At Kaleidoscope we believe that the families and partners (‘significant others’) of people with substance misuse issues can also benefit from our support. Dealing with a substance misuse problem can be very stressful for those around the substance user, and puts a huge strain on families.

We are currently developing a self-help manual for significant others. In all Kaleidoscope services, we encourage family members and partners to become involved in their loved ones' treatment wherever possible. Family members and partners are invited to attend key working sessions (with the client’s consent), and can help to support and monitor the client’s treatment plan. We have found that individuals can succeed much more in treatment if they have significant others fully involved in supporting them.

Kaleidoscope’s mission is to provide life enhancing services to people on the margins of society. In particular we provide support to people with drug and alcohol problems, enabling them to make positive changes in their lives. At the heart of all our work is respect for our service users.

D.A.F.S

Drug and alcohol problems do not just affect the person who takes the substances but those closest to that person. In 1999 four families who had been affected by drugs formed a self help group known as DAFS (Drug Alcohol Family Support).

Today Kaleidoscope is supporting DAFS to continue its work enabling it to look positively to the future.

DAFS is a service available to people across the five county areas of Gwent. One of its key programmes is Parents and Carers (PACT).

This is a skills based treatment approach that synthesised key findings from a number of treatment models for concerned others. The PACT programme lasts twelve weeks in length and offers concerned others the opportunity to:

- Get an unmotivated loved one into treatment
- Support a loved one in treatment
- Reduce the stress on the concerned other
- Improve the quality of life of the concerned others.

The training has been evaluated and has proven successful, particularly in supporting loved ones into treatment. The support of carers for those with drug issues is crucial but it is important it is a service for the carer and not an adjunct to the treatment system. Kaleidoscope therefore provides management support but does not seek to incorporate it into our own drug treatment programmes.

The work of DAFS has been independently evaluated by Phil Harris who concluded his report in the following way:  “In conclusion, the DAFS service not only provides an important service to an under-served treatment population but also does this with a very high degree of therapeutic success.”