One in every ten people who are working in some establishment in South Dakota has an alcohol problem. This is definitely ruining the lives of the employees and their families, especially if they are the sole earning members of the families, but this is also creating a big dent in the economy and productivity of the state. Having such a large number of the workforce involved in alcoholism only means those many hours of work wasted. People who are with an alcoholism habit will usually report late for work, sometimes not at all, and even when they do, they will not be in a stable state of mind to carry out their duties. The approach of the evening hours will make them completely redundant for work as their urges for the bottle will begin to greatly override their zest for their duties.



So it is definitely a problem, and a problem that cannot be just let be. It is imperative that a solution is found out as soon as possible. Enabling the employers to bring their alcoholic employees into treatment is one of the best things that the state substance abuse authorities have done. Following the lines of programs in other states, the program for alcohol treatment in South Dakota has also implemented the Employer Assistance Program to a great extent which makes it possible for employers to intervene in the treatment of the employees. The crux of this program is that the employers must intervene to provide a stable working environment to the employees and that includes helping them to rid themselves of their various health-related problems, alcohol addiction included.

It would be interesting to understand here why employers would want to participate in an alcohol treatment program for their employees at all, especially when firing them and keeping healthier people on the job is an option. However, the truth of the matter is, replacing employees is not always an option. First of all, finding a new employee becomes strenuous on the company's staff. Then the new employee will have to be trained and acclimatized to the ways of the company. This is not only monetarily taxing; but it is physically and emotionally taxing too. There is also the risk of letting an employee walk out of the company with some of its business secrets. Employees getting terminated from a company also reflect badly on the turnout rate of the company.

So, there are problems in simply firing alcoholic employees and hiring new ones. In any case, considering the way that alcohol addiction is moving on in South Dakota today, this cannot be taken as a permanent solution. There is absolutely no telling when the new employee will succumb to an alcoholic habit too.

The best option does remain a workplace intervention for alcohol treatment in South Dakota, especially when the state substance abuse authorities provide such meaningful and beneficial options for handling this treatment. Let us take a look at the way in which this is conducted.

Workplace intervention for alcohol treatment in South Dakota begins with an awareness of the problem. Employers will first detect alcoholism conditions in their workforce. They might arrange counseling sessions with substance abuse experts. Most workplaces in South Dakota nowadays have their own substance abuse cells or at least they have an access to such a facility. The counselor would spend some time with the alcoholic employee trying to assess the situation and convincing them to get into treatment if need be.

In most cases, the families of the addicted employees will be involved. There are several reasons for involving them. Firstly, the families will be a major constructive force in the treatment if they are trained properly. Secondly, if the families are not trained on how they can tackle this situation, they might develop depression and other emotional conditions of their own, which might become detrimental to the overall treatment process. In any case, this is an intervention program, which means the families are needed to motivate and encourage the patient to get into treatment. The employers and the families make concerted efforts in motivating the patient and making them see why they should get into a treatment program.

Workplace intervention usually lasts until the patient gets ready to join a treatment program. After this, the families of the patients may take over. In most cases, the workplace will ensure the person's post when they return after the treatment program. They may be also promised certain incentives which they will get after they return in a recovered state.