A comparative study of religious beliefs, spiritual intelligence and spiritual well-being in two therapies based on education (anonymous drug user) and methadone in drug user in Iran.

OBJECTIVE: Prevention of high-risk behaviors has always been considered; According to the researches, a person's religious attitudes and beliefs and intelligence quotient are associated with the prevention of high-risk behaviors such as drug addiction, and religiosity and spirituality also reduce drug addiction; Therefore, this study was conducted to compare religious beliefs, intelligence and spiritual health in two methods of education-based treatment and methadone in people with addiction. RESULTS: A comparative study was performed among 184 people on all drug users admitted to these wards that treated with methadone and participants of meetings of anonymous drug users. Four questionnaires were used to collect information. Mean, and standard deviation were used to describe the demographic characteristics of participants. Chi-square and fisher tests were used to compare demographic information in the two groups. The present study was performed following acquisition of the code of ethics (IR.BUMS.REC.1395.156) from Research Ethics Committee of Birjand University of Medical Sciences.

Representações sociais das drogas e de seus usuários para grupos religiosos: contribuições para o cuidado de saúde e enfermagem / Social representations of drugs and their users: contributions to health care and nursing

Para se realizar o estudo das representações sociais das drogas e de seus usuários para grupos religiosos, adotou-se como objetivo: analisar as representações sociais das drogas psicoativas e dos seus usuários para grupos religiosos católicos, evangélicos, espíritas e para religiões de matriz africana no contexto dos templos religiosos. Objetivos específicos: descrever os conteúdos e a estrutura representacional dos grupos religiosos acerca das drogas psicoativas e dos seus usuários; discutir as representações sociais acerca das drogas psicoativas e de seus usuários para os diferentes grupos religiosos; discutir a influência dessas representações na inclusão da espiritualidade e da religiosidade nas práticas de cuidar. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo e exploratório, de abordagem de métodos mistos, sob a ótica das representações sociais, realizado entre 2017 e 2020 em templos religiosos católicos, evangélicos históricos, evangélicos pentecostais, evangélicos neopentecostais, umbandistas, candomblecistas e espíritas. Na primeira etapa do estudo, participaram 1.400 sujeitos, sendo 200 de cada religião, sendo 100 para cada termo indutor, que responderam à caracterização, à coleta de evocação livre e à escala de religiosidade para os termos "drogas" e "usuários de álcool e de drogas". No segundo momento, foram realizados os testes de centralidade: testes mise-em-cause, choix-par-bloc e esquemas cognitivos de base. Nessa etapa, participaram 100 sujeitos de cada grupo religioso, com exceção para os esquemas cognitivos de base - nestes participaram 10 sujeitos de cada grupo social, totalizando 70 sujeitos. Os resultados demonstraram no termo indutor "drogas" que: o núcleo central para os católicos é a dependência; para os evangélicos históricos, é o vício e a dependência; para os evangélicos pentecostais, é a destruição e a dependência; para os evangélicos neopentecostais, é a ajuda; para os umbandistas, é a tristeza e a morte; para os candomblecistas, é a destruição e a doença; para os espíritas, é a doença. No termo indutor "usuário de álcool e de drogas", foram encontrados os seguintes núcleos centrais para católicos: católico é ajuda, evangélico histórico é ajuda, evangélico pentecostal é vício e dependência, para evangélicos neopentecostais é ajuda, para umbandistas é ajuda, para candomblecistas é cuidado e doença e para espíritas é dependência. Na análise processual, os resultados demonstram as diferentes facetas das drogas e dos usuários de drogas para cada grupo religioso. Ao final do estudo, podemos constatar que enquanto a representação das drogas baseia-se na consequência da utilização, a representação do usuário baseia-se no cuidado. Desse modo, pode-se entender que os indivíduos dos grupos religiosos, no momento em que representam a droga e seus usuários, nos permitem pensar em um cuidado que privilegie as áreas religiosa e espiritual para além da doença.

In order to study the social representations of drugs and their users for religious groups, the objective was to: analyze the social representations of psychoactive drugs and their users for Catholic, Evangelical, African religions and Spiritist in the context of religious temples. And as specific objectives: describe the content and representational structure of religious groups about psychoactive drugs and their users; discuss social representations about psychoactive drugs and their users for different religious groups; discuss the influence of these representations on the inclusion of spirituality and religiosity in care practices. This is a study, descriptive and exploratory with a multimethod approach, from the perspective of social representations, carried out between 2017 and 2020 in Catholic religious temples, historical evangelicals, Pentecostal evangelicals, neo-Pentecostal evangelicals, Umbandists [umbandistas], candomblecists [candomblécistas] and spiritists. In the first stage of the study, 1400 subjects participated, 200 for each religion, distributed 100 for each inductive term, who responded to the characterization, the collection of free evocation and the religiosity scale for the terms drugs and alcohol and drug users. In the second moment, the centrality tests were performed: mise-in-cause [put-in-cause], choix-par-bloc [choice-by-block] and schémas cognitifs de base [basic cognitive patterns]. In this stage, 100 subjects participated for each religious group, with the exception of the basic cognitive schemes in which 10 subjects participated for each social group, totaling 70 subjects. The results showed in the term drug inducer the central core for Catholics is dependence, for historical evangelicals it is addiction and dependence, for Pentecostal evangelicals it is destruction and dependence, for neo-Pentecostal evangelicals it is help, for Umbandists it is sadness and death, for Candomblecists are destruction and disease and for Spiritists it is disease. In the term inducer user of alcohol and drugs, the following central nuclei were found for Catholics: Catholic is help, historical evangelical is help, Pentecostal evangelical is addiction and dependence, for neo-Pentecostal evangelicals it is help, for Umbandistas it is help, for Candomblecists it is care and illness, for spiritists it is dependence. In the procedural analysis, the results demonstrate the different facets of drugs and drug users for each religious group. At the end of the study, one can see that while the representation of drugs is based on the consequence of use, the user's representation is based on care. In this way, we can understand that individuals from religious groups, at the moment they represent the drug and its users, allow us to think about care that privileges the religious and spiritual area beyond the disease.

Eu caminho, tu caminhas, nós caminhamos: (re)conhecendo as trajetórias de cuidado de familiares de usuários de drogas / I walk, you walk, we walk: (re)knowing the care trajectories of family members of drug users

As intervenções no grupo familiar ou na rede social de usuários de drogas trazem um impacto positivo nas famílias e na vida dos usuários. Apesar da efetividade bem documentada de diversas abordagens terapêuticas voltadas às famílias de usuários de drogas, apenas 10% das famílias recebem este apoio. Tais dados sugerem a existência de barreiras na implementação dessas abordagens terapêuticas e ilustram a dificuldade das equipes de saúde em assistir tais famílias. A trajetória de cuidado percorrida por esses familiares engloba uma série de ações terapêuticas que se dão em três setores de assistência à saúde: o informal, o popular (folk) e o profissional. As escolhas por essas alternativas de cuidado são realizadas conforme a necessidade, a disponibilidade, a condição socioeconômica e cultural da família. Assim se estabelece o fluxo de assistência à saúde, compreendido como a trajetória percorrida pelo usuário em busca de atendimento para resolver o seu problema. Considerando esta complexidade, o presente estudo teve como objetivo compreender as trajetórias de cuidado percorridas por familiares de usuários de drogas, apoiando-se no referencial teórico dos Setores de Assistência à Saúde de Helman e no conceito de fluxo proposto por Ramos. Este projeto utilizou os dados coletados em uma pesquisa maior intitulada "Familiares de usuários de drogas: um olhar compreensivo de suas vivências e trajetórias assistenciais". Tal pesquisa trata-se um estudo de abordagem qualitativa, descritiva, exploratória que se deu por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas a partir de um roteiro com questões que contemplam a temática pesquisada. Os participantes da pesquisa foram 15 familiares de usuários de drogas acompanhados na internação e no ambulatório de um serviço em pertencente a uma instituição hospitalar do sul do Brasil. Para a análise e interpretação dos dados foi utilizado o método de análise de conteúdo de Bardin, que ocorreu em três etapas: 1) pré análise, 2) exploração do material e 3) tratamento dos dados obtidos e interpretação. Este projeto respeitou a todos aspectos éticos previstos na Resolução nº 466/12 do Conselho Nacional de Saúde, que trata sobre os aspectos éticos com pesquisa envolvendo seres humanos. Os familiares pesquisados percorrem pelos três setores de cuidado em saúde, sendo o informal o mais prevalente entre as 15 trajetórias de cuidado. A família foi o destaque neste setor, por ter sido a fonte de ajuda mais citada. No entanto, foi no setor profissional que os familiares encontraram os apoios mais efetivos para o tratamento do usuário. Porém, revelou se a escassez na oferta de espaços que oferecem assistência ao familiar do usuário de drogas no setor público de saúde. É urgente que as equipes se apropriem de atitudes e técnicas de intervenção no cuidado a essas famílias, tomando para si a responsabilidade em catalisar o processo de inseri-las no tratamento, trazendo-as de uma posição periférica e coadjuvante para o interior da cena, para que junto ao usuário possam atuar como protagonistas no tratamento.

Interventions in the family group or social network of drug users have a positive impact on families and the lives of users. Despite the well documented effectiveness of several therapeutic approaches aimed at drug users' families, only 10% of families receive this support. These data suggest the existence of barriers in the implementation of these therapeutic approaches and illustrate the difficulty of health teams in assisting such families. The trajectory of care taken by these families encompasses a series of therapeutic actions that take place in three sectors of health care: the informal, the popular (folk) and the professional. The choices for these care alternatives are made according to the need, availability, socioeconomic and cultural condition of the family. This is how the flow of health care is established, understood as the trajectory travelled by the user seeking care to solve his problem. Considering this complexity, this study aimed to understand the trajectories of care taken by family members of drug users, based on the theoretical framework of Helman's Health Care Sectors and the flow concept proposed by Ramos. This project used the data collected in a larger survey entitled "Families of drug users: a comprehensive look at their experiences and care trajectories. This research is a qualitative, descriptive, exploratory approach that was carried out through semistructured interviews based on a script with questions that contemplate the researched theme. The participants in the research were 15 family members of drug users accompanied in the hospitalization and outpatient clinic of a service belonging to a hospital institution in southern Brazil. For the analysis and interpretation of the data, the Bardin content analysis method was used, which occurred in three stages: 1) pre analysis, 2) exploration of the material, and 3) treatment of the data obtained and interpretation. This project respected all the ethical aspects foreseen in Resolution 466/12 of the National Health Council, which deals with ethical aspects with research involving human beings. The family members researched travel through the three health care sectors, the informal one being the most prevalent among the 15 care trajectories. The family was the highlight in this sector, as it was the most cited source of help. However, it was in the professional sector that family members found the most effective support for the user's treatment. However, there was a scarcity of space in the public health sector that offered assistance to the drug user's family member. It is urgent that the teams take ownership of attitudes and techniques of intervention in the care to these families, taking for themselves the responsibility of catalyzing the process of inserting them in the treatment, bringing them from a peripheral and supporting position into the scene, so that together w ith the user they can act as protagonists in the treatment.

Successful treatment of intravenous drug use-related pigmentation with Q-switched Alexandrite laser: a case report of two patients.

Patients with a history of intravenous drug usage (IVDU) often develop pathognomonic linear hyperpigmented dermatoses near injection sites. This drug use-related pigmentation can be very distressing for patients as they persist for life, are very difficult to treat, and remain a constant reminder of prior drug usage. The difficulty of treatment is due to the location of the deposited material and its exogenous nature. This article reports two cases of linear hyperpigmentation due to IVDU successfully treated using the Q-switched Alexandrite laser.

The Effectiveness of Group Spiritual Intervention on Self-esteem and Happiness Among Men Undergoing Methadone Maintenance Treatment.

BACKGROUND: Drug dependence or substance use disorder not only affects a person's life but also brings a lot of challenges for families and communities and imposes heavy burdens on them. There are various therapies in the domain of addiction whose main purposes are to reduce or to cut down substance abuse. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of group spiritual intervention on selfesteem and happiness among male clients undergoing methadone maintenance treatment. METHODS: This study was an intervention study in which 60 clients affected with substance abuse and undergoing methadone maintenance treatment were recruited. The study samples were selected through convenience sampling method and then divided randomly into two groups of 30 individuals: intervention and control. The intervention group attended group spiritual interventions for 10 sessions. Self-esteem and happiness among the study participants were also measured through Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire before and after the intervention. RESULTS: The results showed a significant difference between both intervention and control groups in terms of self-esteem and happiness (P < 0.05); so that the participants in the intervention group demonstrated a significant improvement in their self-esteem and happiness. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that group spiritual intervention as a useful method could be effective in enhancing self-esteem and happiness among addicted individuals undergoing methadone maintenance treatment. The given treatment could be also used as a complementary therapy beside methadone maintenance treatment to reduce the likelihood of people returning to substance abuse.

Occurrence of bacterial and toxic metals contamination in illegal opioid-like drugs in Iran: a significant health challenge in drug abusers.

BACKGROUND: The toxic metals and/or bacterial contaminants in illicit drugs are the main health problems in drug users worldwide. Hence, the potential risks of these contaminants were evaluated in some of the illicit drugs during 2015 and 2016. METHODS: The metals analysis were performed using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. In addition, all microbiological analysis stages, including handling procedures, dilution, and culture media, were conducted in accordance with the US Pharmacopeia (USP) which are harmonized with the European Pharmacopoeia (EP). RESULTS: In the present study, the highest lead (Pb; 138.10 ± 75.01 µg/g) and chromium (Cr; 447.38 ± 20.27 µg/g) levels were detected in opium samples. In addition, the highest prevalence of microbial contamination was observed in opium samples, and the lowest was recorded in heroin samples. Clostridium tetani, with about 50% of contaminant, was the most common bacteria in the analyzed samples. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that Pb exposure as well as bacterial contamination could be the major threats for drug users. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.