Substance Use and Mental Health Guidelines Discussion

INVITATION TO DISCUSSION FORUM ON THE MANAGEMENT OF CO-OCCURRING SUBSTANCE USE AND MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS

The NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Mental Health and Substance Use (CREMS) at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre has been funded by the Australian Government Department of Health to update and revise the Guidelines on the management of co-occurring alcohol and other drug and mental health conditions in alcohol and other drug treatment settings’.

Originally published in 2009, this hugely popular resource aimed to provide alcohol and other drug (AOD) workers with evidence-based information on the management of comorbid mental health conditions in AOD settings. Since publication in December 2009, over 10,000 hard-copies and electronic copies have been distributed to clinicians and treatment services across Australia.

This revision will bring the Guidelines up to date with the most current evidence. The project is being undertaken by Dr Christina Marel, A/Prof Katherine Mills, Prof Maree Teesson, Mr Mark Deady, Dr Frances Kay-Lambkin, and Prof Amanda Baker.

We would be delighted if members of the alcohol and other drugs sector would be interested in participating in a discussion forum to help inform the revision process.  We are hoping that the forum will be attended by a variety of interested stakeholders including academic experts, clinicians, consumers and carers.

The discussion forum will convene on Tuesday, 11 November 2014, from 2 to 5pm at Meeting Room 3 at the Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide.  During the forum we will discuss the content of the Guidelines with a particular focus on how we could improve upon the existing resource. A copy of the existing Guidelines is available for download on the CREMS website (http://comorbidity.edu.au/cre-resources/professionals), and will be distributed at the forum meeting for consideration.

If you are interested in participating as a discussion forum member, please RSVP to Dr Christina Marel (c.marel@unsw.edu.au) to register by 5pm Friday 3rd October.