The Development And Assessment Of A Major Public Health...

Describe the development and assessment of a proposed intervention for a major public health problem, including how best to evaluate its effectiveness. Addiction is the term used when a person takes part in an activity, or ingests a substance that gives them pleasure, but then the continuous use of it becomes compulsive and starts interfering with their everyday life. The behaviour of an addict can easily be recognised as it represents confusing human activity. (Shaffer, 1996). These behaviours can include gambling, excessive sexual behaviours, smoking and drug and alcohol abuse. Although it is mainly used to treat depression, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can be used to successfully treat various types of addictions. CBT is a†¦show more content†¦Cognitive therapies generally assume that psychological problems are a result of a faulty thinking process. (Black Bruce, 1989). Emperical evidence has shown CBT as being very effective in treating all types of problems such as depression and anxiety, psychotic disorders and addiction. (McCusker, 2001; Butler et al, 2006; Tolin, 2010). When applied to addiction – and more specifically alcohol and drug addiction – therapists use CBT to help the patient recognise high risk situations and how they can avoid getting themselves into times when they have the urge to drink or take drugs. The therapist then expects the patent to be willing to put in more effort and move towards better health. A major reason for the success of CBT is due to its recovery-orientated, individual-centred attitude which is mainly executed in the context of acute care. CBT is made up of a variety of different approaches such as rational emotive therapy/rational behaviour therapy and dialectic behaviour therapy (Hollon, 1994). These therapies focus on resolving