Resources and links
AOD eNews is a quarterly e-newsletter produced by Central and Eastern Sydney PHN, focusing on recent sector updates, stories and service provider information relevant to our region. It is sent to community members, organisations and health professionals across the CESPHN region.
If you would like to contribute an article to the AOD eNews please email Drug Health Programs Officer, Megan Mattingly at m.mattingly@cesphn.com.au
- Australian Drug Foundation (ADF)
- Language Matters guide
- Breaking the Ice is an online program designed to help you become aware of how your current lifestyle and use of ice affects your health and other areas of your life. It will help you weigh up important issues or problems you identity and also provide information on where to find support.
- Ask Izzy is an anonymous online search platform with over 360 000 services; including housing, meals, healthcare, counselling, legal advice and addiction supports.
- Cracks in the Ice is an online toolkit providing information and resources about crystal methamphetamine (Ice) for the community and for health professionals
- Community Drug Action Teams NSW - Find out what's happening in NSW near you by contacting your local Community Drug Action Team (CDAT), which is led by a regional Senior Community Development Officer who will help with your questions. You can locate your local CDAT here
- Network of alcohol and other drugs agencies (NADA) – the peak body for the non-government alcohol and other drugs sector in NSW
- National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre provides a range of resources to support treatment and other interventions responding to alcohol and other drug related harm, including a resources section for AOD workers
- NSW Health Clinical Guidelines for Depot Buprenorphine - Interim guidelines for depot buprenorphine were developed to provide a framework for clinical decision making for clinicians and consumers in a range of service settings involved in the delivery of treatment of long acting depot buprenorphine products.
Clinical guidelines for use of depot buprenorphine (Buvidal® and Sublocade®) in the treatment of opioid dependence
Guidelines should be read in conjunction with the NSW Health Guidelines: Treatment of Opioid Dependence - Take Home Naloxone (THN) - A list of registered pharmacies in NSW
- Your Room Resources and up to date information about drugs and alcohol
- Developing a screening tool for prescribed opioid dependence - report on study undertaken by NDARC to develop a screening tool for prescription opioid dependence, developed specifically for use in primary care settings (general practitioner and community pharmacy screening)
- WellMob: Social, emotional and cultural wellbeing resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
- Australian Indigenous Alcohol and Other Drugs Knowledge Centre
- Sydney University’s Handbook for Aboriginal Alcohol and Drug Work and Alcohol Awareness Kit
- Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Network – a Network for Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol workers from across NSW
- NADA's Aboriginal Inclusion Tool
- NADA's Alcohol and other drugs treatment guidelines for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people - in a non-Aboriginal setting.This resource has been developed to support non-Aboriginal service providers in the AOD sector working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.
Alcohol and other drugs treatment guidelines for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people - in a non-Aboriginal Setting
NADA has developed guidelines to support non-Aboriginal service providers in the AOD sector working with Aborignal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Guidelines are intended to support services to establish better relationships and linkages with Aboriginal organisations and in Aboriginal communities. The Guidelines also provide practical guides and resources to support workers and organisations to improve their service delivery when working with Aboriginal service users.
- Guidelines are available here: Alcohol and other drugs treatment guidelines for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people - in a non-Aboriginal setting.
Evaluation
This project has been evaluated by UNSW National Drug and Alcohol Research Council (NDARC). All services completed a pre and post audit and attended a Guideline workshop to measure if there was change. Twelve of the fifteen services who participated engaged in the project until completion.
- The full evaluation report is available here: A randomised stepped-wedge evaluation of the impact of a guideline-driven process for improving the cultural competence of non-Aboriginal drug and alcohol treatment services
- Two page summary of the evaulation report is available here: Cultural Competence Guideline project Evaluation summary report
- National LGBTI Health Alliance Knoweldge Hub
- ACON’s Pivot Point, AOD self-assessment and resources for LGBTIQ persons
- ACON's TransHub
- ACON’s Language Guide: Trans and Gender Diverse Inclusion
- GLHV’s The Rainbow Tick guide to LGBTI-inclusive practice
- ACON's pdf Trans and Gender Diverse Language Guide (114 KB)
- ACON LGBTI Inclusive Guidelines for AOD Treatment Providers pdf AOD Inclusivity Guidelines (1.02 MB)
- NADA e-learning module: 'Asking the question: Recommended gender and sexuality indicators'
- QLife QGuides: These guides are for health professionals working with LGBTIQ people. The guides describe and discuss a range of common and often complex topics. QLife provides Australia-wide anonymous, LGBTI peer support and referral for people wanting to talk about sexuality, identity, gender, bodies feelings or relationships.
- Evaluation of ACON's Substance Support Service: Supporting best practice for sexual and gender minority AOD clients, University of New South Wales (UNSW). Funded by NSW Health.
- Drug and Alcohol Multicultural Education Centre
- DAMEC’s NSW Bilingual Workers and Programs Directory
- NADA's Working with diversity in Alcohol & Other Drug settings resource
- Illawarra CALD Local Drug Action Team in partnership with Illawarra Local Health District developed new film resources to assist community members and their families in a range of language backgrounds to access drug and alcohol support:
Video: Where can I get help when alcohol or drugs a problem?
Language: Arabic, Assyrian, Burmese, Chaldean, Cantonese, Farsi, Hazaragi, Hindi, Swahili, Mandarin, Nepali, Kirundi, Karenni, Tigrinya, Vietnamese
Community Restorative Centre (CRC) provides a range of services to people involved in the criminal justice system and their families. CRC is the lead provider of specialist throughcare, post-release, and reintegration programs for people transitioning from prison into the community in NSW. All CRC programs aim to reduce crime and break entrenched cycles of disadvantage, offending and imprisonment.
- Positive Choices provides up to date, evidence-based information for students, parents, teachers and community.
- Climate Schools offers health and wellbeing courses to students
- NADA's Resource: Supporting young people with drug and alcohol issues
- Your Room: Respect Your Brain animated video series explores how alcohol, cannabis and MDMA affect a developing brain.
As part of a needs assessment conducted in 2016, CESPHN identified comorbidity between AOD and mental health conditions as a priority area, with low levels of service provision. By improving the capacity of healthcare providers to identify, intervene, and provide appropriate referral and coordinated care with this population, the standard of care, and the lives of people with co-occurring substance use and mental health conditions may be improved.
Key documents
- The final report from the project is pdf available here. (1.27 MB)
- A two-page bulletin summarising the report and recommendations is available here.
Comorbidity Guidelines
The Comorbidity Guidelines website provides evidence-based information, training and resources to assist with the management of co-occurring, or comorbid, AOD and mental health conditions.
This website and online training program was developed by Dr Christina Marel, Associate Professor Katherine Mills, Mr Jack Wilson and Professor Maree Teessonat The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use.
- Comorbidity Guidelines: Free online training is available here
- Comorbidity Guidelines: Order a free hard copy here
Co-existing mental health and AOD webinars
Comorbid mental health and substance use disorders
- Co-Occurring Substance use and Mental Disorders: Implications for Managing and Delivering Best-Practice Health Care
- Identifying Mental Disorders and Related Conditions Among Patients with Alcohol and Other Drug Conditions
- Managing and Treating Co-Occurring Mental and Substance Use Disorders
- Managing the Physical Health of People with Co-Occurring Mental and Substance Use Disorders
Using opioid agonist treatment for pharmaceutical opioid dependence
Routine Opioid Outcomes Monitoring (ROOM) Tool
Tools for health professionals
Health professionals play an important role in smoking cessation. Supporting smokers to quit is an activity for the whole health care system and should be integrated into as many settings as possible, including hospitals, health services and community settings. Health professionals can be very effective in encouraging and supporting people to quit smoking regardless of their professional discipline.
Combining brief advice with other effective interventions, such as pharmacotherapy can greatly increase quit smoking success.
The following guidelines and resources will assist health professionals to confidently provide evidence-based management of nicotine dependence and smoking cessation for their clients/patients.
Clinical guidelines
- RACGP supporting smoking cessation: A guide for health professionals
- Clinical guidelines for the management of substance use during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period Managing nicotine dependence: A guide for NSW Health staff - covers all aspects of management including the 5As brief intervention model, use of pharmacotherapies as well as helpful tools and strategies.
Resources related to management of nicotine dependence in the health care setting
- Tool 1: Flowchart of tools to help clinicians manage nicotine dependent clients
- Tool 2: Quick guide to smoking cessation brief intervention
- Tool 3: Assessing nicotine dependence
- Tool 4: Flowchart for NRT use in hospital
- Tool 5: Quick guide to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)
- Tool 6: Tips for helping clients stay smoke-free
- Tool 7: Quick guide to drug interactions with smoking cessation
- Tool 8: Clozapine, olanzapine and smoking cessation
- Tool 9: Managing smoking in consumers who go on leave from a NSW Health facility
- Tool 10: Discharge checklist for smoking cessation
- Make a client referral to NSW Quitline
Resources related to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)
- Nicotine replacement - frequently asked questions
- NSW Health factsheet on nicotine replacement therapy in pregnancy
Resources related to Aboriginal smoking
- ATRAC Framework aims to support the planning, integration and coordination of Aboriginal tobacco resistance and control efforts in NSW.
- A-TRAC Program had the broad goal to contribute to reduced smoking rates for Aboriginal people in NSW.
- Quit smoking booklets for Aboriginal clients. Three brochures to support Aboriginal people who are at different stage of quitting.
- Quit for new life brochures on smoking and pregnancy for Aboriginal women and their cohabitants.
Resources related to smoking and mental health and smoking and disadvantage
Local mapping reports:
- CESPHN undertook a baseline needs assessment of the region, which informed the development of an evidenced based activity work plan. This plan details the priorities and activities of CESPHN for Drug and Alcohol Treatment Services Flexible funding 2016 – 2019. Under the priority area of services for high needs populations and service capacity, CESPHN seek to identify strategies to improve access to treatment services for families, and enhance withdrawal service referral pathways. To inform this work CESPHN commissioned Network of Alcohol and Other Drug Agencies (NADA) to undertake a mapping project in 2017 Report here
- Current Practices and support needs of healthcare providers in CESPHN in relation to addressing patient's co-occuring mental health and alcohol and other drug needs, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Unviersity of New South Wales, 2018. Report here