Author Archives: James

What is the role of harm reduction when drug users say they want abstinence?

With thanks to Paul Dessauer on the ADCA Update list.

Neale, Nettleton and Pickering.
International Journal of Drug Policy, 2010
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2010.09.007

Abstract
Quantitative survey data indicate that most drug users starting treatment want abstinence rather than harm reduction (McKeganey et al., 2004). This finding has been seized upon by those seeking ‘evidence’ that abstinence is the bedrock of recovery and harm reduction is a negative and oppositional philosophy.

However, all research involves questions of meaning, definition and value and an alternative research paradigm and different study design can provide important additional insights into treatment aspirations, including the desire for abstinence.

Qualitative interviews conducted with 30 recovering heroin users (15 males and 15 females) in Southern England in 2009 confirm that those starting treatment often report a desire for abstinence. Nonetheless, drug users are frequently uncertain about their ability to achieve this and can have very different and inconsistent understandings of what being abstinent means.

We suggest that the work of the critical theorist (Habermas, 1970) and (Habermas, 1991) could improve our understanding of abstinence and is consistent with recent efforts to achieve a working definition of recovery.

Importantly, our qualitative data also reveal that drug users have treatment aspirations that extend far beyond their drug consumption. They additionally want to improve relationships, engage in meaningful activities, acquire material possessions, and achieve better mental and physical health. Moreover, these broader life goals are often inextricably linked to their drug taking.

From this, we conclude that both abstinence and harm reduction discourses should more routinely prioritise the many diverse ‘wellness’ goals that so clearly motivate treatment clients. The harm reduction field will then likely find that it has more in common with abstinence-oriented services and the broader recovery agenda than it might otherwise have imagined.

Cairns ‘Community Conversation’ seminar on alcohol and pregnancy

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We would like to invite you to a ‘Community Conversation’ seminar to be held in Cairns on alcohol and pregnancy. The seminars will give an overview of the current research projects on alcohol use in pregnancy. There will also be an opportunity for you to put forward your ideas on how you would like your health professionals to talk to you about alcohol and pregnancy and the possible risks of drinking alcohol while pregnant.

The seminars are part of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Project. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders is not a diagnosis but an umbrella term used to describe a range of potential effects resulting from fetal alcohol exposure. These effects include physical defects, facial abnormalities and problems with growth, development and learning.

The seminars are partly funded through the project and also sponsored by the Institute’s Consumer and Community Advisory Council and the Collaboration for Applied Research and Evaluation.

Attendees at the seminars will receive a small honorarium to cover parking and any out of pocket expenses. As places are very limited (maximum 30 at each location) we would appreciate your early response.

We are really excited about the potential for this ‘Community Conversation’ and do hope that you will join us.

Date: Monday 29 November 2010
Time: 9.00am – 1.30pm
Venue: Pacific International Hotel, 43 The Esplanade Cairns
RSVP: 22 November 2010
Phone: 08 9489 7724 (please call and we will phone you back)
Email: hjones@ichr.uwa.edu/au

How to get there
There is no parking at the Pacific International Hotel. Paid parking is available across the road from the hotel.
If you are coming via the local bus service, the nearest bus stop would be either in Abbott Street (1 street away) or Lake Street (2 streets away).

AOD – Training Update – Odyssey House Victoria

Gain your Diploma in Alcohol and other drugs via RPL from $550*

Would you like to gain your Diploma in Alcohol and Other Drugs work, and feel your current skills should be recognised?

Have you:
· been working in the Alcohol and Other Drugs sector for two years or more?
· performed a variety of roles and responsibilities in community services work?

What is RPL?
RPL is Recognition for Prior Learning. It is a process whereby you gain a qualification based on evidence of your work, prior training and job description. We can visit you to conduct the necessary assessment for you to gain the qualification.
Do you hold no higher than Certificate IV as your highest Australian qualification? If so, you are likely to be eligible for subsidised funding to gain this qualification – and receive your qualification through assessment with recognition of prior learning (RPL).

Odyssey Institute offers a workplace based RPL process for the Diploma in Alcohol and other drugs (CHC08 package) for individuals and groups and usually takes just one or two visits.

Full Fee: $2,800, however Odyssey House Victoria is able to offer eligible Victorian candidates qualifications in the Diploma of Alcohol and Other Drugs for only $550.

This qualification is aimed at AOD clinicians, nurses and other AOD sector workers who are working in or aspire to work as coordinators or other management roles and those who wish to enhance their practitioner skills.

Enquiries and registration http://www.workskillsweb.net/dip_info.html
or contact Sariah on 03 9420 7644, email studentadmin@odyssey.org.au

*This training is provided for eligible Victorian student with Victorian Government Funding, $550 represents the required student contribution.

Enrolments are subject to available funding. Eligibility criteria varies depending on your personal circumstances click here for details or visit www.odysseyinstitute.edu.au

Injecting room moves beyond trial status

From the NADA press release:

NADA welcomes passing of legislation to remove the trial status of the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre

The Network of Alcohol and Drugs Agencies (NADA), the peak organisation for the non government drug and alcohol sector in NSW, welcomes the passing of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Amendment (Medically Supervised Injecting Centre) Bill 2010, to remove reference to the trial status of the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC).

NADA congratulates the Minister for Health, Carmel Tebbutt, for introducing the bill which was passed by the Upper House of NSW Parliament last night after the bill was passed by the Lower House last week. NADA Chief Executive Officer, Larry Pierce stated, “As a member, NADA highly regards the role of the MSIC in providing a vital health service to people who are not in touch with treatment services.” The MSIC is part of a comprehensive strategy to address drug use in NSW along with other drug and alcohol services providing health promotion, education, treatment and rehabilitation programs. Mr Pierce continues, “NADA will continue to support MSIC and the strong referral relationships it has with some of our most significant treatment services in the non government sector.”

New service for Victorian GPs

Via a press release from Turning Point:

An Australian-first service to enhance the screening and treatment of alcohol-related health problems will be launched by Turning Point Alcohol & Drug Centre on Tuesday 26 October.

The initiative, the Portal to Alcohol Counselling and Therapy (PACT) program, is funded by the Victorian Government under Restoring the balance – Victoria’s alcohol action plan (VAAP) 2008-2013. It supports the VAAP priorities as it enhances the capacity of mainstream health services to help clients to reduce their drinking so that more people affected by alcohol issues
can receive a quality service.

This and other developments under the VAAP promote a change in community attitudes and encourage a safe and sensible approach to drinking. The state-wide service will enhance general practitioner (GP) access to counselling services via the Drug & Alcohol Clinical Advisory Service (DACAS). The DACAS PACT program offers referral to an appropriate counselling service or enrolment in a six week telephone based program where patients can phone in for their scheduled appointment.

“This is a significant service improvement for people with alcohol problems, particularly those in rural areas who cannot easily access face-to-face support”, said Professor Dan Lubman, Director of Turning Point. “GPs can call the DACAS service during a patient consultation, allowing them to arrange appropriate referral and treatment options immediately”, said Professor Lubman. The program will be rolled out across the state over the next 12 months, starting with the eastern metropolitan region and key service providers in Barwon South West.

The service will be launched by Dr Karleen Edwards Executive Director Mental Health Drugs and Regions, Department of Health on 26 October at Turning Point Alcohol & Drug Centre, 142 Gertrude Street Fitzroy at 2.30pm.

The Victorian Drug and Alcohol Clinical Advisory Service (DACAS) is a 24 hour, 7 day specialist telephone consultancy service available to all health professionals in Victoria. The service provides clinical advice to health professionals who have concerns about the clinical management of patients and clients with alcohol and other drug problems. DACAS operated by Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre with funding from the Victorian Department of Health.

Jobs: Counsellor (WA)

The Western Region Alcohol and Drug Centre have a vacancy for a Alcohol and Drug Clinician to work as apart of a multi-disciplinary team providing a broad range of services for people throughout the South West.

The Counsellor will work with a range of clients who are at risk due to their alcohol and drug use

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

To offer counselling to individuals who are concerned about a drug problem
To liaise with local health and welfare networks
· To provide assessment and reports
· To work as part of a multi disciplinary team.
· To develop quality counselling standards
· To record client data on WRAD information system.

QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE:

A relevant tertiary qualifications is desired.

A minimum Certificate IV Community Service (Alcohol & other Drugs) or equivalent is necessary. If you do not have Certificate IV Alcohol and Drugs training can be arranged as part of employment conditions.

An attractive salary is available for this full-time position and will be based on the skills and experience of the successful applicant.

Contact the WDEA on 55612579 to obtain a job description

Applications to be made in writing to Geoff Soma, Director, WRAD Centre, 172 Merri Street, Warrnambool 3280 by 5pm Friday the 22nd October, 2010.

AOD and Comorbidity DVD resources

Via Sushi Productions:

These DVD resources have been developed from evidence based best practice and illustrate a range of counselling skills including generic counselling skills, assessment, motivational interviewing, problem solving, goal setting, relapse, as well as best practice skills when interviewing couples and families. They are invaluable tools for mental health, generalist and specialist drug workers who encounter people with drug related or mental health problems, as well as significant others concerned at someone else’s drug use.

These resources have been purchased nationally and internationally by health and welfare agencies; universities, TAFE, and individual practitioners. Reviews of the resources have been consistently excellent.

Each training resource is accompanied by a detailed set of training notes which enables practitioners to develop their counselling skills, and provide information for trainers running workforce development programs.

Visit our website www.sushiproductions.com or contact Sue Helfgott, 0403 465682 or email hanmil@optusnet.com.au for further information on these resources.

Therapeutic Journeys: Exploring Choice Alcohol and Drug Counselling Skills
53 mins $100
This program features five counselling sessions with a young professional woman and addresses her dependency on cannabis and underlying anxiety issues.

Therapeutic Journeys: Exploring Roadblocks and Effective Counselling
12 mins, $50
Two vignettes of an initial assessment with a reluctant client who has alcohol related problems: the first demonstrates roadblocks; the second effective counselling skills.

Therapeutic Journeys: Counselling Aboriginal Clients and Their Families
Alcohol and Drug Counselling Skills with Adults and Adolescents
38 mins, $120
This program features three counselling sessions with an Aboriginal family.
· An individual session with an adult male client referred for alcohol counselling, as a consequence of losing his driver’s licence.
· A joint session with the client’s two children, explores the impact of their father’s drinking, as well as their own alcohol and other drug use.
· A family session with the father and his children.

Therapeutic Journeys – Mental Health & Drug Problems. Working with Adults
34 mins, $100
Session1: A young woman, experiencing anxiety and panic attacks related to an unwanted sexual encounter presents at a mental health agency.
Session2: A man with alcohol related issues and underlying depression presents at an alcohol and drug agency.

Therapeutic Journeys – Mental Health & Drug Problems. Working with young adults and adolescents
29 mins, $100

Session1: An adolescent client who presents at a mental health agency with concerns about her education reveals that she is using drugs to manage her depression.
Session2: a young woman presents at an alcohol and drug agency concerned about her speed use reveals her underlying anxiety and panic attacks.

Therapeutic Journeys: Counselling Family Members
27 mins, $100
This program demonstrates a brief five-step intervention developed for relatives of drug users in primary care settings. Based on the stress-coping-health model developed by Copello, A., Orford, J., Velleman, R., Templeton, L. & Krishnan, M. (2000a). The DVD features a counselling session between a mother, concerned at her son’s amphetamine use and a family counsellor. The client presents at an alcohol and drug agency as a self-referral.

Therapeutic Journeys: Marital Counselling
57 mins $100
Session 1: a young couple with relationship difficulties including the wife’s concern over her husband’s drug use.
Session 2: the success of attempted changes in the relationship and a lapse by the husband is explored.

Therapeutic Journeys Working with Complex Clients: Unraveling the Chaos
39 mins $110
The counsellor explores a number of presenting problems including the client’s anxiety, her drug use, the risk of harm to her children, suicide risk, relationship difficulties, financial problems and past child sexual abuse.

Therapeutic Journeys Alcohol Counselling Skills: Working with Binge Drinking
45 minutes $100
A young man with problems related to binge drinking is referred into counselling .

Minimum purchase age as a strategy to reduce alcohol-related injury

Minimum purchase age as a strategy to reduce alcohol-related injury

Dr Kypros Kypri
School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle

10am-11am, Thursday 25 November 2010

Metcalfe Auditorium, State Library of NSW, Sydney (entry off Macquarie St)

Speaker
Dr Kypros Kypri is an associate professor at the University of Newcastle and holds a research fellowship with the National Health & Medical Research Council. He is behavioural scientist interested in the evaluation of interventions to reduce unhealthy alcohol use and other risk behaviours. He has expertise in the design, conduct and analysis of clinical trials of behaviour change interventions, quasi-experimental evaluations of policy interventions, and web-based survey methods.

Abstract
Heavy episodic alcohol consumption is a leading behavioural risk factor for injury and a range of other health and social outcomes including crime. Increasing the minimum purchase or drinking age is being considered in several jurisdictions as a strategy to reduce alcohol consumption in late adolescence. The presentation will examine the research evidence on the effects of changes in the purchase or drinking age with particular reference to New Zealand, where the purchase age was lowered in 1999, and where further legislative change is likely to occur soon.

Directions
For directions to the State Library, please see the following website: http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/using/location/index.html?HomeLink=Services

RSVPs
RSVPs are essential for catering purposes. Please email to bocsar_seminars@agd.nsw.gov.au or ring 02 9231 9190.

Testing for Hepatitis C: new fact sheets

Hepatitis NSW have updated / expanded their Hepatitis C fact sheets. You can view them all here.

The key ones include:

A factsheet intro – 200KB PDF
PCR availability – 190KB PDF
Antibody testing – 180KB PDF
PCR & transmission – 180KB PDF
Australian snapshot – 220KB PDF
Pregnancy, babies & children – 195KB PDF
Blood, semen & organ donation – 210KB PDF
Preventing transmission – 185KB PDF
Complementary medicine – 18OKB PDF
Safe disposal of fits – 210KB PDF
Diet & health – 190KB PDF
Sex & hep C transmission – 185KB PDF
Discrimination – 180KB PDF
Stress – 190KB PDF
Fatigue – 180KB PDF
Superannuation – 205KB PDF
First aid – 200KB PDF
Support services – 200KB PDF
Genotypes – 180KB PDF
Symptoms – 205KB PDF
Harm minimisation – 200KB PDF
Tattooing & piercing – 210KB PDF
Hepatitis NSW – history – 190KB PDF
Telling others – 215KB PDF
Hepatitis NSW – overview of our work – 180KB PDF
Test discussion (counselling) – 180KB PDF
Heps A B & C – 220KB PDF
Testing overview – 200KB PDF
HIV coinfection – 190KB PDF
Treatment consent – 210KB PDF
Illness outcome – 210KB PDF
Treatment overview – 240KB PDF
Liver biopsy & fibroscan – 260KB PDF
Treatment response – 260KB PDF
Liver function – 190KB PDF
Treatment side effects – 240KB PDF
Liver transplant – 180KB PDF
Workplace issues – 180KB PDF
Painkillers – 160KB PDF

Jobs: Senior Research Officer at the Australian Drug Foundation

Opportunity to join the Australian Drug Foundation

Senior Research Officer
Full time, 9-month Contract (Extension dependent on funding)
ADF Salary Band 5

The Australian Drug Foundation (ADF) is a leading non government, not for profit organisation working to reduce alcohol and other drug related harm in Australia. We have a number of successful services and programs including the DrugInfo Clearing House, Good Sports and Community Health Action Network (CAAN).

We have an exciting opportunity for a passionate individual to join our Sector Development Unit as a Senior Research Officer.

Reporting to the Sector Development Manager, the role is responsible for conducting research and evaluation, managing and implementing research and pilot projects, and contributing to building the evidence-base of the Foundation.

The successful candidate will have a Masters Degree in the Health/Social Sciences, a minimum of five years research experience, a demonstrated commitment to evidence-based practice in health promotion and harm reduction, and an understanding of alcohol and other drug issues. The successful candidate will ideally meet the full capability profile outlined in the position description, viewable at www.adf.org.au.

This position is a 9-month contract, with extension dependent on funding. The salary is within ADF salary band 5, and includes salary sacrifice option and superannuation. The office location for this position is in West Melbourne.

To apply, please include your CV and a letter addressing each of the points in the education, and skills and knowledge sections of the capability profile listed in the position description (viewable at www.adf.org.au). Applications can be e-mailed to HR@adf.org.au (please quote Sector Development) or sent by post to Australian Drug Foundation, PO Box 818, North Melbourne VIC 3051.

For more information, contact Robyn Ramsden, ph: (03) 9278-8126.

Applications close 5:00pm, 28 October 2010.