National
Assembly for Wales / Cynulliad Cenedlaethol
Cymru
Health
and Social Care Committee /
Y Pwyllgor Iechyd a Gofal Cymdeithasol
Inquiry into alcohol and substance misuse / Ymchwiliad i gamddefnyddio alcohol a sylweddau
Evidence from ARCH Initiatives Cymru – ASM(Q) 20 / Tystiolaeth gan ARCH Initiatives Cymru – ASM(Q) 20
Inquiry into alcohol and substance misuse
Survey Consultation Response
Organisation/Respondent: Peter Moorhouse, ARCH Cymru
Questionnaire
01. Which client group(s) do you work with? (For example, under 18s, older persons, homeless, or female only)
Criminal Justice Substance Misuse.
18 plus.
02. What are the main reasons why your clients take drugs or drink excessively? Please tick all that apply.
If you work with more than one client group or you feel that there are other reasons as to why your clients take drugs or drink excessively, please comment in the box below.
§ Peer pressure;
§ A way to deal with stress;
§ Client(s) already substance reliant;
§ Mental Health;
§ Boost confidence;
§ Relieve social anxiety;
§ Environmental factors (for example – excessive drinking and/or drugs normalised in the home/community)
§ Relationship problems;
§ Financial concerns;
§ Self-medication;
§ Escapism.
03. Are there certain groups of people who are more likely to be affected by drugs and excessive drinking? If so, which groups might they be?
The groups most likely to be affected are those that suffer from social deprivation and also social status.
04. Does a particular stage of your clients’ lives influence their likelihood of taking drugs or drinking excessively? If so, what stage might that be? (i.e. age, relationship breakdown, unemployment etc.)
Any life event can be a trigger for drug or alcohol use. Poor coping mechanisms learned in early childhood can be a predictive factor.
05. What barriers exist for your client(s) when trying to access support and services?
Financial Barriers, especially for people living in rural north wales, where mainstream services are less apparent and there is a need to travel to access services. Quite often the criminal justice system will be the door that leads people to our services.
06. What barriers exist for services when trying to access support for client(s)?
Currently we have to work within certain criteria. For our service it is class A drug use and
Offending. We have to refer many people to other services, and this can take some time, if
we were able to work across all substances we would save valuable time and could
contribute some interventions within this time.
07. What do you consider to be barriers for staff and frontline services in working with your client group(s), or substance misuse generally?
Lack of resources, under staffing.
08. Where do you think efforts should be targeted to address the issue of alcohol and substance misuse in Wales?
§ Night time economies;
§ More work done in rural areas;
§ More work with elderly isolated people;
§ More work around internet availability.
09. In which local authority area do you work? If you work outside of Wales, please write your local authority area below.
Conwy
Contact Details
Peter Moorhouse
ARCH Cymru