Responding effectively to comorbidity in the NT AOD Sector
A message from our Executive Officer:
It is well recognised that the co-occurrence of alcohol and other drug use issues and mental health conditions is highly prevalent amongst the client demographic of AADANT’s member organisations. Responding effectively to comorbidity can be complex and challenging for AOD services and requires a focus on effective planning and resourcing at the system, organisation and worker development levels.
The following webinar featuring Professor Nicole Lee and Professor Steve Allsop provides an overview of the recent work produced by 360 Edge: Exploring the place of alcohol and other drug services in the mental health system. This report and webinar explore the evidence base for the range of models that currently exist for treatment of co-occurring AOD and mental health conditions.
AADANT strongly supports the position that holistic, effective treatment is dependent on robust and sufficiently resourced specialised services in both the mental health and drug and alcohol treatment spaces working collaboratively to deliver services to clients experiencing co-occurring conditions.
I would strongly encourage executives, managers and program development staff of our member organisations to thoroughly explore the evidence and guidance available for the development and delivery of services that attempt to address comorbidity.
Webinar: https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/resource/integrating-aod-and-mental-health...
Other useful resources:
- The Matilda Centre (UNSW) have a primary focus on treating co-occurring mental health and AOD conditions and have produced a broad suite of resources and training that can be freely accessed through their website: https://comorbidityguidelines.org.au/
- VAADA’s guidelines on developing the capacity of AOD agencies to deliver services for co-occurring mental health and AOD issues
- WANADA’s guidelines on developing the capacity of AOD agencies to deliver services for co-occurring mental health and AOD issues
Also,
APSAD have released their program for the upcoming virtual conference: