Hosted by Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes

Executive Director: AllCEUS.com Counselor Training

Unlimited CEUs $59 and Addiction Counselor Precertification Training $149

Objectives

• Examine the counselors function in providing client, family and community education

• Identify the benefits of outreach and education

• Identify qualities of effective education efforts

Client, family and community education

• Learning is defined as a change in behavior that can occur at any time or in any place as a result of exposure to environmental stimuli

• The teacher and learner jointly perform teaching and learning activities

• Counselors are often called upon to teach daily living skills to increase patients’ level of independence

• Health educators provide information to individuals and communities on a variety of important topics including biological, medical, and physical aspects of substance use, safety, HIV and STDs, nutrition, General Medical conditions, smoking, pregnancy, and mental health

• Success is measured not by how much content has been imparted but how much the person has learned

• Client family and community education is the process of providing client’s families, significant others and community groups with information on a variety of topics

• The role of educator encompasses many knowledge and skill sets such as

• understanding and applying the principles of learning theory

• using specific teaching skills to accommodate individual learning styles

• making adaptations for culture, age and linguistic ability among learners

• Educational groups help engage the client in treatment and recovery and is much less threatening because it is easier to learn than to change

Client, family and community education

• Characteristics of adult learners

• They are engaged in multiple roles

• They have more life experiences

• They need a safe environment in which they do not have to be afraid of being wrong

• They're self directed and don’t want to be spoon fed

• They are relevancy oriented

• Their problem solvers and want to know how new information can be applied in a practical setting

• They need to feel part of a learning community which provides both encouragement and serves as a sounding board for ideas, anxieties, and concerns

• Adults are motivated to learn

• In order to cope with specific life changing events

• Because they have a use for the knowledge or skill being sought

Effective education efforts

• Education is provided in a variety of ways including formal classes, handouts and informal meetings

• Print electronic and other multimedia educational materials have become increasingly available

• A client education program must be sensitive to the following:

• Characteristics and needs of the client, their family, and significant others

• Physical/environmental

• Time/scheduling

• Cognitive/learning abilities

• Language

• Cultural

Effective education efforts

• Educational sessions are typically offered in 60 to 90 minute blocks

• Sessions usually consist of a lecture, an exercise, and are presented with media supplements

• Educational topics include:

• Addiction as a Biopsychosocial disease

• The recovery process

• Life skills

• Health

• Relapse warning signs and triggers

• Resources available for clients family’s and community members

• Recovery planning

Effective education efforts continued

• Learning styles

• Each learner absorbs and retains information differently

• A learning style is the primary way person tends to learn and can be auditory, visual, or kinesthetic

• Challenges to learning

• Learning and