Assessment of psychosocial support services among young adults recovering from drug and substance abuse in Nairobi County /

Abstract

The government of Kenya in partnership with NACADA are working together to curb the practice of drug and substance abuse as well as assisting the recovering young adults to reform. The study was carried out to assess the impact of psychosocial support services among young adults recovering from drug and substance abuse in Nairobi County. The objectives of the study were to assess the effectiveness of the psychosocial support to the recovering young adults, to determine the professional skills of the psychosocial service providers, to establish the challenges faced by psychosocial support providers, and to identify the strategies used by psychosocial providers in addressing drug and substance abuse among the young adults. The study was anchored on family therapy theory and cognitive behavior theory. The study used descriptive survey design. The target of the study was the recovering young adults ranging between ages of 18- 35 years who are enrolled in the medically assisted therapy (MAT) program in the various rehabilitation Centers and Methadone clinics in Nairobi County. Purposive sampling method was used to select four rehabilitation centers out of the ten accredited centers in Nairobi County and two Methadone clinics giving a total sample size of six Centers. A total number of three hundred and fourteen respondents was involved in the study. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire while data analysis was done using the statistical package of social sciences (SPSS) version 26. The analysis was presented using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results were narrated and presented in figures and tables. The results highlighted strengths in understanding the perceived effectiveness of psychosocial support services in the center, while also identifying areas such as relapse management and public awareness where improvements would be beneficial. The results showed that that recovering drug users and psychosocial support providers perceived psychosocial support services as highly effective in supporting recovery. The results showed that the psychosocial service providers were qualified enough to provide service in addressing drug and substance abuse among young adults. The results further indicated varied challenges faced by psychosocial support providers and the rehab centers and identified a number of challenges used by psychosocial providers in addressing issues of drug and substance abuse.