Wheatley: Ear Acupuncture is an alternative to imprisonment that's been used in prisons for drug-prisoners for 5-6 years, and is popular, cheap and doesn't require prisoner to be highly motivated for this to work. 2 trained practitioners with groups of 10-15 prisoners; in a relaxed environment; needles inserted into 5 areas of ear and prisoners relax;sometimes fall asleep; in room for 40mins; after go to their normal duties; effects of treatment evaluated throughout the process.
Aim/M&P: Evaluate effectiveness of ear acupuncture for treatment of substance misuse; Experiment; Independent measures design; 350 male prisoners; received 2 weekly ear acupuncture; standard care programme (FOCUS) for 4 weeks; Control group = no treatment; did receive FOCUS
Results: Qual = Prisoners reported better sleep; improved relaxation; reduced cravings and health improvements; Staff could tell when their wing had acupuncture as it was calmer and there was less demand for health care. Quan = Control group's symptoms improved by 25%; experimental improved by 43%. Comparing experimental pre and post programme there was a 70% reduction in drug related incidents from 6 months pre to 6 months post. There was a 41% reduction in serious incident reports.
Conclusion: In conclusion there is evidence to support use of ear acupuncture when used alongside other treatments and therapy.
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