E-Paper
Punjab: Govt targets long-term recovery of drug addicts with community bridge model
Launched in March last year, the anti-drug drive “Yudh Nashian Virudh” is built around a three-pronged Enforcement, De-addiction and Prevention (EDP) strategy to completely root out the menace of drugs from Punjab
Taking its ongoing campaign against drugs forward, the Punjab government is all set to introduce the Community Bridge Model, a structured 90-day community-based rehabilitation programme focused on long-term recovery of drug addicts.
Launched in March last year, the anti-drug drive “Yudh Nashian Virudh” is built around a three-pronged Enforcement, De-addiction and Prevention (EDP) strategy to completely root out the menace of drugs from Punjab.
Individuals recovering from substance abuse, who complete detoxification at de-addiction centres are often referred to rehabilitation centres. While some continue treatment, many choose to go back to their communities, where continuity of care is difficult or non-existent.
Thus, the Community Bridge Model has been conceived to ensure continuity of care and preventing relapse after patients are discharged.
To begin with, the government is piloting the programme in Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Moga and Mohali.
The initiative follows a structured pathway. First, patients undergo medically supervised detoxification at the de-addiction centre before being discharged upon being declared clinically fit by medical professionals.
The community-based or home-based rehabilitation essentially starts a day before discharge, when the patient’s family undergoes a mandatory psycho-education session to prepare them for supporting the patient’s recovery at home.
The next 30 days of treatment involve intensive tele-counselling with three to four calls a week. Mandatory dope tests are conducted periodically. Any patient failing a dope test is reassessed by the psychiatrist for further treatment.
During this maintenance phase, for the next one-and-a-half months, tele-counselling tapers to one or two calls a week. The programme concludes after three months, when the patient’s progress is reviewed and a final mandatory dope test is conducted.
The model has human intervention at three levels to ensure that patients remain engaged with the recovery process. If a patient misses counselling sessions, counsellors will immediately follow up, followed by supervisor intervention and family engagement wherever required. In cases of confirmed relapse or serious safety concerns, the patient is counselled to seek readmission to the de-addiction centre.
Health and family welfare minister Dr Balbir Singh, “The Community Bridge Model reflects a leap in Punjab’s anti-drug strategy by going beyond detoxification at the de-addiction centre to sustained rehabilitation within the communities of these patients. Besides improving long-term recovery, the initiative will enhance the efficiency of de-addiction services while ensuring more patients are able to benefit from them.”
At present, Punjab has 56 government de-addiction and rehabilitation centres and over 540 Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) clinics.
Amid the focus on rehabilitation and reintegration, those held for possession of small quantities of narcotics are routed to treatment centres under Section 64-A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, which grants immunity from prosecution if addicts voluntarily seek de-addiction treatment.
