Social innovation can be applied to the large global issue of substance abuse in a variety of ways. However in Great Britain social innovation plans to combat substance abuse include: capital investment, Act Peer Recovery, and Reach out Recovery (O’Conner 1). Capital investment plan aims towards helping those recovering from drug addiction. These individuals may have limited skills, employment experience, and often have significant problems with unstable accommodation. Previous evidence shows jobs and housing play a major role in sustaining successful long term recovery. Capital Investment aims at investing money for affordable housing to provide for struggling individuals. While also providing these individuals with consistent work. Act Peer Recovery (Approach Care and Treatment Peer Recovery) makes mutual aid available 24/7. (O’Conner 3) This ensures that people with alcohol and drug problems who are not currently in treatment will still be able to access essential support on their own terms in their own time. By offering mutual aid this decreases the cost of recovery which is a large factor in the reason why inviduals are in favor or not in favor of treatment. Finally the Reach out Recovery works alongside capital investment by offering an employment initiative based on providing construction opportunities. Recovering substance abusers will gain skills as painters, decorators, and dry liners. (O’Conner 7)

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      Imperial college of Science, Technology and Medicine (ICSTM) define combating substance through social innovation by six key policy actions. Mental health conditions are among the top five leading causes of non-communicable diseases, and lead to considerable disability and high economic and social costs. These costs are estimated at 2.5 trillion for Great Britain in 2010 (Darzi Pg. 12). However ICSTM:  six policy actions towards attacking substance abuse through social innovation include: promoting human rights and inclusion, reduce the human impact of mental health problems, prevent premature death, reduce the economic costs to society, reduce poverty and social disadvantage, put knowledge of cost-effective treatments into practice. (Darzi Pg. 14   )

        Public Health of Great Britain highlights routes to recovery from substance abuse through social innovation by providing struggling individuals with tools/techniques to improve the assessment of substance addicted people and carry out a plan for recovery. Their road to recovery includes taking interest in the individual and helping him/her: set, achieve and accomplish rewarding goals, as well as building social support for change. Other techniques include providing information to reduce harm, skills development, and exiting treatment and aftercare. (Public Health England pg. 3)