Recreating Substance Use:
Abstract
The treatment of substance use disorder remains challenging and relapse rates remain high despite the existence of multiple effective and clinically proven interventions. In recent years, increasing attention is being paid to more holistic approaches that consider all aspects of the clients’ wellbeing. This study sought to determine what impact, if any, the inclusion of recreation and leisure activities in the treatment of substance use disorder might have on recovery. This is a qualitative study, which involved both an anonymous online survey and one-on-one semi-structured interviews with randomly recruited participants. All participants were over the age of 18 and were involved in recreation and leisure activities as a component of their recovery journey. We expect to find that the inclusion of recreation and leisure activities in participants’ recovery journeys will result in greater feelings of well-being and a reduction in urges to use, occurrences of relapse, and lengths of instances of relapse.
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Social Work
Presentation Type
Event
Recreating Substance Use:
The treatment of substance use disorder remains challenging and relapse rates remain high despite the existence of multiple effective and clinically proven interventions. In recent years, increasing attention is being paid to more holistic approaches that consider all aspects of the clients’ wellbeing. This study sought to determine what impact, if any, the inclusion of recreation and leisure activities in the treatment of substance use disorder might have on recovery. This is a qualitative study, which involved both an anonymous online survey and one-on-one semi-structured interviews with randomly recruited participants. All participants were over the age of 18 and were involved in recreation and leisure activities as a component of their recovery journey. We expect to find that the inclusion of recreation and leisure activities in participants’ recovery journeys will result in greater feelings of well-being and a reduction in urges to use, occurrences of relapse, and lengths of instances of relapse.
