Jo-Anne Welsh Director

Brighton Oasis Project

Factors Affecting Recovery for Women

Aims of session To consider recovery in context of womenTo look at how current thinking relating to

recovery applies to women To keep thinking about service provision in

context of women To challenge and support To generate ideas to be pursued – influence

policy and practice

Recovery is everywhere• Addictions field overflowing with references to “

recovery” Although dispute as to what is and isn t. • Increased awareness that people do recover• Limited knowledge or science of what enables recovery

– even less so with women- most strategy documents and papers gender neutral

• Recovery capital refers to the sum of resources that may facilitate the process of recovery

• No mention of women in the drug strategy ( identified in The Challenge of Change)

• Difficult to find info about specific factors affecting recovery for women

• More work now being undertaken on identifying factors that help/hinder recovery but little thought of gender issues in this

Key Components of Recovery Capital Social Capital • Social capital – sum of resources that each

person has as a result of their relationships and includes both support and obligations. Family membership provides support but will also entail commitments

• Considerations for women – domestic violence- relationships - caring for children – more obligation less support ? Acknowledged that relationship issues are a key factor in women's offending positive experiences – family getting along decreases risk of relapse but not arguing etc

Physical Capital Physical capital – tangible assets such as

property and money that may increase recovery options – i.e. house move private detox

Considerations for women – majority of our clients on benefits – lone parent families with have lost most in current economic climate – What is the impact of food poverty on this ?

Human capital Human capital includes skills, positive

health, aspirations and hopes and personal resources that will enable the individual to prosper. Traditionally high educational attainment and high intelligence

Considerations for women – barriers to the workplace and education – accessible childcare – prioritising repairing relationships with children

Cultural capital Cultural Capital includes the values, beliefs

and attitudes that link to social conformity and the ability to fit into dominant social behaviours

What cultural capital do you have if you are a mother who has had a child removed ? Stigma associated with substance misusing women /mothers is immense

What is clear, however, is that the essence of recovery is a lived experience of improved life quality and a sense of EMPOWERMENT; that the principles of recovery focus on the central ideas of HOPE, CHOICE, FREEDOM AND ASPIRATION that are experienced rather than diagnosed and occur in real life settings rather than in the rarefied atmosphere of clinical settings. Recovery is a process rather than an end state, with the goal being an ongoing quest for a better life

Getting Back Into the World (Rethink) 3 components A safe place to live Effective control over symptoms and

general health problems Basic human rights support

Mandy Mandy is 35 she has been in treatment for 8 years on and

off she is prescribed 80 mls on methadone. She has been with her partner, David for 2 years. He is also a drug user. Mandy has had 2 children who have both been adopted due to child protection concerns. When she gave birth to her 2nd child David was in prison and she was doing well attending a programme, reducing her methadone and not using on top. When the baby was 7 months old David was released from prison and Mandy stated to miss appointments, there was concern about domestic violence at the property. Following a police call out one night the baby was removed and legal action commenced. Mandy deteriorated and began using again and drinking heavily. She dropped out of services and missed contacts with her baby before he was adopted.

What does Mandy need to address A safe place to live ?Effective control over symptoms and

general health problems ?Basic human rights support ?

How are we doing in providing this ? What else could we be doing ? What does the evidence tell us ?

a sense of EMPOWERMENT HOPE, CHOICE, FREEDOM AND ASPIRATION

What are we going to take away from today to influence how we support women like Mandy and give her