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Submission information
Submission Number: 121
Submission ID: 924
Submission UUID: cdfba5e7-85ec-4199-bad7-bb479f3b5d8f
Submission URI: /2025/abstracts
Created: Wed, 04/30/2025 - 12:56
Completed: Wed, 04/30/2025 - 14:03
Changed: Fri, 05/16/2025 - 07:57
Remote IP address: 41.116.93.210
Submitted by: Anonymous
Language: English
Is draft: No
Current page: Complete
Webform: Abstract
Presenters
Mr.
Singwane
Thembinkosi
University of pretoria
Mr Thembinkosi Singwane is a Social Work Lecturer at the University of Limpopo. He completed his Masters’ Degree from the University of Witwatersrand under the tutelage of Prof Thobeka Nkomo. Thembinkosi is currently a PhD Student (PhD;under examination) at the University of Pretoria under the supervision of Prof Stephan Geyer. He has over 10 years of experience in the Public, Corporate and NGO Sectors. His research niche lies within the ambit of harm reduction, substance use disorders, mental health, addiction management and unemployment. He has published a few articles on substance use disorders and related domains.
Yes
Prof.
Geyer
Stephan
University of Pretoria
Stephan Geyer is a professor of Social Work in the Department of Social Work and Criminology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He is a registered social worker with the South African Council for Social Service Professions. He teaches undergraduate and postgraduate addiction, gerontology, and research methodology modules. His research focuses primarily on social gerontology (including gerontological social work) and secondary on addiction (i.e., substance use disorders and problematic internet use). He was the programme coordinator for the B Social Work degree (2012-2018) and the deputy chair (2016-2018) of the Faculty of Humanities' Teaching and Learning committee. Since 2019, he has been the Research Information Management System coordinator for the Faculty of Humanities. He currently also serves on the Research Committee of the Faculty of Humanities. He is a member of the South African Academy for Science and Arts (Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns). He is rated as an established researcher (i.e., C2) by the National Research Foundation of South Africa.
No
Abstract
Service Provider Perspectives on Alcohol Harm Reduction: Advancing SDG 3.5 through Strengthened Prevention and Treatment of Harmful Alcohol Use in South Africa
THEME 2: Social Work and the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
SUB 2.1 Social work’s contribution toward global sustainability and equity goals.
Oral Presentation
The harmful use of alcohol remains a significant public health concern globally and poses a substantial burden on healthcare systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In South Africa, managing alcohol use disorders (AUDs) in outpatient treatment settings presents ongoing challenges. This paper reports findings from Phase 1 of an intervention study aimed at informing the development of a contextually relevant alcohol harm reduction intervention. Specifically, it presents data gathered from service providers working in outpatient treatment centres across Mpumalanga, Gauteng, and Limpopo provinces.
Using a concurrent mixed-methods design, the study employed purposive sampling to recruit 60 service providers from eight centres. Data were collected via a non-standardised QualtricsXM web-based survey and analysed using Stata SE.18, incorporating both descriptive and associative statistics. Findings reveal a high general awareness of treatment models (87.5%) among service providers, but only 23% were familiar with harm reduction approaches. Nevertheless, 70% endorsed harm reduction as a suitable model for addressing AUDs. Only 45% had received training in harm reduction, most of it through in-service efforts. Notably, 90% of participants believed that insufficient efforts are currently in place to develop targeted interventions for harmful alcohol use.
Service providers emphasised the need for holistic, culturally grounded interventions that address responsible drinking, mental health, anger management, and risky behaviours. These findings underscore the critical role of frontline service providers in informing strategies aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.5, which calls for the strengthening of prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including harmful alcohol use. The study concludes with a call for enhanced training and capacity-building in harm reduction, tailored to the realities of outpatient service contexts in South Africa.
Using a concurrent mixed-methods design, the study employed purposive sampling to recruit 60 service providers from eight centres. Data were collected via a non-standardised QualtricsXM web-based survey and analysed using Stata SE.18, incorporating both descriptive and associative statistics. Findings reveal a high general awareness of treatment models (87.5%) among service providers, but only 23% were familiar with harm reduction approaches. Nevertheless, 70% endorsed harm reduction as a suitable model for addressing AUDs. Only 45% had received training in harm reduction, most of it through in-service efforts. Notably, 90% of participants believed that insufficient efforts are currently in place to develop targeted interventions for harmful alcohol use.
Service providers emphasised the need for holistic, culturally grounded interventions that address responsible drinking, mental health, anger management, and risky behaviours. These findings underscore the critical role of frontline service providers in informing strategies aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.5, which calls for the strengthening of prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including harmful alcohol use. The study concludes with a call for enhanced training and capacity-building in harm reduction, tailored to the realities of outpatient service contexts in South Africa.
Reviewer ONE Feedback
Dr
Luce
Pretorius
Yes
Empirical Research
Accepted
Reviewer TWO Feedback
Ms
Martha
van Straaten
Yes
Empirical Research
Accepted