Survive or suffer: sustainability of addiction care curriculum/training in South African Universities.
South Africa is grappling with a significant challenge of high harmful substance use rates, a shortage of addiction care professionals, and an expanding treatment gap. In response, the Department of the Premier initiated a project in 2010 to revamp its approach to substance use treatment in the West...
| Publicado en: | Journal of Substance Use Vol. 30; no. 5; pp. 679 - 682 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
| Formato: | letter Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Oct2025
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=187890666&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 187890666 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 14659891 ILV jtl: Journal of Substance Use issn: 14659891 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Oct2025 vid: 30 iid: 5 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania artinfo: ui: 187890666 180914733 187890666 187890666 10.1080/14659891.2024.2389266 187890666 ppf: 679 ppct: 3 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Survive or suffer: sustainability of addiction care curriculum/training in South African Universities. aug: au: Harker, Nadine Weich, Lize Sibeko, Goodman Ashburner, Fergus Allie, Shaheema Kader, Rehana affil: Mental Health, Alcohol, Substance Use and Tobacco Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa sug: subj: Addictions Nursing Education Colleges and Universities South Africa Curriculum Development Substance Abuse Therapy Health Personnel Education South Africa Substance Use Disorders Prevention and Control Medical Practice, Evidence-Based Professional Development Collaboration Workforce Public Health Health Policy ab: South Africa is grappling with a significant challenge of high harmful substance use rates, a shortage of addiction care professionals, and an expanding treatment gap. In response, the Department of the Premier initiated a project in 2010 to revamp its approach to substance use treatment in the Western Cape. This endeavor led to the establishment of a postgraduate diploma in addictions (PGDIP) in collaboration with the Universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch. The PGDIP aimed to enhance the expertise of healthcare professionals in evidence-based practices for substance use prevention and treatment. Despite the initial success of the program in upskilling professionals and improving addiction care quality, financial constraints threaten its continuity, hindering the upskilling of the addiction treatment workforce. The cessation of bursaries and the self-funding requirements pose challenges to training professionals in evidence-based approaches. The growing prevalence of substance use disorders in South Africa underscores the urgency of investing in addiction specialists to address the escalating demand for treatment services and the complex needs of individuals struggling with addiction. To avert a potential public health crisis, it is imperative for the country to prioritize the training of addiction practitioners and ensure standardized academic training to professionalize the addiction workforce. Significance: South Africa is grappling with high rates of substance use, a shortage of addiction professionals, and an expanding treatment gap. In 2010, the Western Cape government initiated a project to revamp its approach to substance use treatment. This endeavor led to the establishment of a postgraduate diploma in addictions (PGDIP) at two Universities. The PGDIP aimed to enhance the expertise of healthcare professionals. Despite the initial success of the course, it now faces discontinuation. The growing prevalence of substance use disorders underscores the urgency of investing in addiction specialists. It is imperative the country prioritizes the training of addiction specialists. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: letter Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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