Proposal

This is an issue in Recovery that has most likely never been encountered before. It is the issue of in person meetings of Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholic Anonymous (N/A and A/A) having to go virtual due to the extreme contagiousness of the Covid-19 virus.

DISCUSSION:

Recovery in Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is known as the process of changing to improve health and wellness. There are multiple elements involved, and one of which is that a person should attend many in person meetings to discuss his/her want or ability to abstain from alcohol or drugs.

The person usually benefits more when there are a variety of attendees at the meetings because a newcomer will benefit when long-timers share their Recovery and provide hope to the newcomer. These meetings are usually held in this area on a daily basis but since the Pandemic there have been basically NO in person meetings. This means that the newest sufferers have no human or personal contact with those who may be able to help them the best. Those being the long term sober or clean participants. These are who I would call the stakeholders.

This issue has been addressed by the Digital Literacy platform known as Zoom. Zoom has been a life saver for so many reasons. What had started out as a communications technology that provided video conferences combined with chat platforms and was used as a business tool for holding company meetings and webinars, etc. has now been adopted by folks of many other various organizations. The organizations that I am concerned with are AA and NA. These meetings held by Zoom have been able to keep the Recovery movement alive so to speak when there were no in person options for those who suffer SUD (Substance Use Disorder).

The biggest problem that has occurred for these participants other than the issue of the Pandemic itself is that some people do not have access to Zoom and/or the technology itself such as a computer or smart phone or Ipad, etc. This brings up the Socio-cultural/material issues of Digital Media Literacies. Research acknowledges that there are inconsistencies in the technological opportunities available to many people. There are many folks in Recovery who have material gaps which seem magnified compared to other peer groups due to their financial or social or sometimes cultural status.

ALTERNATIVE VIEWS

There are some folks in Recovery who do not follow the 12- step programs such as NA or AA so they do not need or seem to need the security and affirmation of the in person meetings. These are folks who may use alternative approaches such as their own Will-power or even moderation in drinking or using. There is even something now called California Sober which allows a person to drink alcohol and use marijuana but no other drugs. Personally I do not find these suitable alternatives for many folks but they may work for some. This may eliminate the need for digital media literacy but I really doubt that one could completely eliminate the use of a smartphone, Ipad or laptop in any form of Recovery. The Digital platforms have also allowed people to communicate by Recovery apps, Blogs, webinars, personal phone calls, texting, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Podcasts, and even Music.

RECOMMENDATIONS and CONCLUSION:

My recommendations would be for folks in Recovery to continue to use as many digital platforms as possible while hoping that in person meetings will resume full strength as soon as possible. In the mean time people will have to share and be more inclusive with those in society who continue to be marginalized by financial, socio-cultural or other means.

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