Drug Services and Cultural Adaptation

Abstract

Since the fall of Communism in 1989, Central and Eastern European countries have encountered serious problems related to drug use and the trafficking of illicit drugs. The need for application of new methods has increased rapidly over the last 10 years which has led to the importation of Western drug treatment services and methodologies to Eastern Europe. While some aspects of these services and interventions are culturally specific, other aspects of Western drug services are not, and have views and features that can be replicated in different countries. However, in order to identify the elements that need to be culturally adapted, all common views or similarities must be discussed in depth at the initial stage in the planning process. Cultural adaptation takes place in relation to the local interpretation because such views are governed by different values and principles in each society. We understand other people and their expressions on the basis of our own experience and understanding of our own culture. In other words, we may all share the same set of emotions but differ in how we express them. This article accounts for such an interpretation by outlining the special problems of importing Western drug service models; it emphasizesthe need to pay closer attention to the role that the local culture plays in the motivation for change.