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Running Start/HEA150 - Health/Week 7/Discussion Replies Week 7.md

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+### Replying to Robert
+Hi Ruopu,
+I agree that stable housing can be a good solution for those struggling with alcohol abuse especially when it is very challenging for these people to stop drinking. One of the sources that I looked at provided evidence showing that using one of these programs decreased the taxpayer money going to these people while improving their outcomes. Housing that requires the residents to be sober can often leave out many people who are not able to do that and can end up leading to more trips to the emergency room and ambulance rides.
+
+### Replying to Rose
+Hi Rose,
+I also read an article about the Oaks Residence in Canada, and I agree that it can be a very important place for people struggling with addiction to have available to them. I like your reference to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs because it makes sense that people struggling with alcohol addiction, especially to the point where they need it to not suffer extreme withdrawal symptoms, wouldn't be able to think about much else. Managed alcohol programs can allow them to focus on other needs further up the pyramid and regain their footing again more easily.
+
+### Replying to Sirapusson
+Hi Sirapusson,
+I also read an article about the Oaks Residence, and it is interesting how one of your articles focused more on the policy side of these projects. From the articles I read, it seems like many of these are still in early stages and there has not yet been wide adoption. One of my articles mentioned how it was very challenging to get funding for the project since many people hear that they are giving alcohol to alcoholics and don't want to fund it. It seems like these have an overall positive effect on the community and people living in the housing, so hopefully they can gain more traction and wider support in the future.
+
+### Replying to Julien
+Hi Julien,
+I also watched one of the videos about the 1811 Eastlake project, and I agree that it seems like a great idea to help give these people an opportunity that they would not have had otherwise. Allowing residents to slowly drink less alcohol seems like the best way to help them recover, especially with the extreme withdrawal symptoms that can be caused with these levels of reliance. I also like your point about reducing crime, since these programs providing alcohol removes the need to steal it that many of these people had before entering the program.

Running Start/HEA150 - Health/Week 7/Discussion Response Week 7.md

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+#rs/class/hea150 #rs/discussion 
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+1. I watched the video about the research base behind harm reduction for alcohol use in Seattle and read the article "The shelter that gives wine to alcoholics." Both of these sources discussed the idea of managed alcohol programs (MAPs). A very large percentage of people that are struggling with homelessness are also struggling with alcohol addictions and since many shelters require those using them to be sober, many people are not able to use them. With a severe alcohol addiction, it can be challenging for these people to focus on other aspects of their lives and often it will be very challenging for them to improve their situation. Managed alcohol programs help these people by eliminating the concern of withdrawals which can cause death as well as their need to beg for or steal alcohol. Many people in these programs are able to then focus on other parts of their life and even eventually start drinking less and moving away from their addictions. Both of these sources discussed many of the same ideas and advantages to these programs, although the video discussed its implementation in Seattle while the article was discussing these programs in Canada.
+2. When reading about these problems and some of the solutions that have been tried, I don't have a very strong opinion since I don't feel like I know very much about this topic. After reading the articles though, it does make sense to me that for many people who have severe alcohol addictions there is often not an option for them to simply stop drinking. Especially with extreme withdrawal symptoms, providing the opportunity to slowly decrease alcohol intake and avoid these symptoms seems like a good way to decrease dependence even though it might take more perseverance or dedication.
+3. I haven't seen many examples of alcohol abuse or dependence in my life, but based on media and the articles I have read alcohol abuse can have a large impact on the people around someone. When someone is always looking for where their next drink will be or is not sober very often it can be hard for them to connect with the people around them which can result in them losing contact with the people they love. In one of the articles I read there was a story about a man who had lost contact with his sons because he didn't want them to see him as an alcoholic. This can also affect people on a much larger scale and several of the articles mentioned the increased spending on emergency room visits and ambulance usage. This can affect the community at large, and programs like MAPs have been shown to help decrease this spending and improve outcomes for these people.

Running Start/HEA150 - Health/Week 7/Search and Report Week 7.md

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+#rs/assignment #rs/class/hea150 
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+
+1. For the calculator, I looked at data for a male weighing 130 lbs using American units.
+
+| Number of Drinks | Type                | Blood Alcohol Level (g/210 L breath) | Psychological Effect                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
+| ---------------- | ------------------- | ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| 1                | Light beer          | 0.000                                | This drink would be small enough to have no impact or symptoms present in the person.                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
+| 2                | Frozen daquiri      | 0.075                                | This is in the euphoria stage where the person has less self-control, judgement, and attention. There also may be some motor impairment and decreased processing speed                                                                                                                               |
+| 3                | Gin and tonic       | 0.043                                | This value is between the subclinical and euphoria stages which means that there might not be any noticeable behavior excepting special tests. There also may be some symptoms such as decreased judgement, control and information processing.                                                      |
+| 4                | Manhattan           | 0.194                                | This value is between the excitement and confusion stage. The excitement stage includes symptoms such as emotional instability, impairment of perception, and reduced visual acuity. The confusion stage includes symptoms such as disorientation, mental confusion and an increased pain threshold. |
+| 5                | Double on the rocks | 0.269                                | This value is between the confusion and stupor stage. The stupor stage includes symptoms such as approaching the loss of motor functions, highly decreased response time and the inability to stand or walk.                                                                                         |
+| 6                | Margarita           | 0.172                                | This value is in the excitement stage, which would include symptoms such as impairment of perception, decreased sensatory response and impaired balance.                                                                                                                                             |
+3. One thing that I was surprised about in this exercise was that having one light beer in a two hour period would likely result in a blood alcohol value of 0.000 g/210 L of breath. It makes sense that the alcohol will eventually leave the blood stream and the person will no longer be intoxicated, but I was surprised that after only two hours there is essentially no effect from drinking a light beer especially for someone who is only 130 lbs. One advantage of obtaining this information online could be spreading awareness about the alcohol content in different kinds of drinks. There are likely some drinks that have a higher or lower concentration that people might think, and knowing this can help them to make safer decisions when drinking in the future. One limitation of obtaining information online is that there are many assumptions being made about the person and drink content. The site does have a disclaimer at the bottom claiming this, and there are many physical factors that could change someone's BAC from the value predicted by this calculator. The drinks in this tool also have preset alcohol concentrations that likely differ based on where you get the drink from and who makes it. The value predicted is likely an average, and in reality it could differ widely from store-bought drinks to custom mixed ones.
+