Medical interventions

Using one of the case studies perform an assessment (physical, psychological, alcohol or drug screening) and based on the results of your assessment, describe the appropriate interventions, discussing the evidence base for these

Case Study 2: Jack

You are Jack, aged 17, who is doing his final year of A levels. You live with your mother in London and have an older brother who has recently left home to go to university. You have been brought here by your mother who is concerned about your drug use and also thinks you are drinking too much.

You smoke weed on weekends with your friends, and during half term and holidays, you smoke it much more frequently. Recently, the teachers at school have become concerned because you are often late for class and have trouble getting up in the morning. You have also become quite rude and cocky , which is unlike your former self, and been neglecting your homework, another bone of contention with the school.

Your mother said you often seem to be in a world of your own and seem quite scatty , forgetting things all the time and constantly losing things like your phone or oyster card. She says that the other night when she went to bed, you stayed up until very late claiming you were doing coursework, and she had trouble waking you for school the next morning. After you had gone she noticed that a full bottle of wine she had in the fridge was now nearly empty. When she asked you about this you denied drinking it, then admitted that you might have had a bit (you did drink it all but were quite shocked to see how much you’d actually drunk). She has said that she thinks you are smoking too much weed and that she thinks it is interfering with your school work. She has also said that she thinks you might be drinking too much (you vomited at a party last week). You have been offered ecstasy and ketamine on many occasions, some of your friends take it, but you’ve never tried either- although you did try to snort some ketamine off your hand a few weeks ago but were so drunk it all fell off and you didn’t end up taking any. Your mother says she is worried sick , and wants you to talk to someone. What she doesn’t know is that the other night you were involved in a car accident – only a minor one, and nobody was injured – but it happened when you and a few friends were all stoned and had had a few beers and one of your friends decided to borrow his parents’ car to go up to the off – license for more supplies. On the way there, he hit a bollard and smashed up the car – you and your friends all thought it was hilarious at the time. You don’t see any problems with your drug use but have noticed that you want to use it more frequently than you used to, and have also noticed that you go looking for a drink these days whereas before you could take it or leave it for months on end. You feel quite anxious that it has come to this stage where your mother has insisted on you seeing a professional.