Level of Competency and Knowledge of Addiction Counselling among Malaysian Ministry of Health Counsellors

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the level of counselling competency and knowledge in addiction counselling among counsellors of the Malaysia Ministry of Health. The subjects consisted of 50 counsellors from the Ministry of Health Malaysia from Johor, Perak, Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu, and Putrajaya. Data were analysed using SPSS version 26. The instruments used were the Malay translated versions of the Questionnaire Addiction Counseling Curriculum and Competencies (ACCC) survey and the Counselor Competencies Scale-Revised (CCS-R) questionnaire. This study showed that the Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for the ACCC questionnaire was a = 0.72, and for the CCS-R, the reliability coefficient was a = 0.824. There was a positive correlation between counsellors who had knowledge of addiction counselling and those with competence in conducting counselling sessions. This study provides beneficial information for elevating the effort, competency, and knowledge of stakeholders who have been involved in the field of drug abuse and prevention in Malaysia.