Assessment
Introduction
Assessment is critical and has several purposes:
- to identify substance use behaviour early
- to discover the extent of use and its health effects
- to examine the social context of substance use in both the patient and significant others
- to determine a care plan and appropriate interventions (Rassool, 1998)
- is a two way process - you are both appraising each other
- does not begin and end with the first contact - it continues until the patient leaves the practice
- constitutes the beginning of the intervention
- is a reflection of the thinking and beliefs of the assessor