Page 1163 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 4 May 2022
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While services do currently provide and facilitate dedicated treatment and support for people with mental health and substance abuse issues, the ACT government recognises that there is much more work to do to continue to meet the growing need of the community and to support people.
Finally, I would like to outline some of these new developments. MHJHADS recently undertook a project to include an alcohol and drug intake worker in the Home Assessment and Acute Response Team, HAART. This intake worker enabled the HAART team, who provide mental health assessments to people at home or in the community to facilitate care and treatment, to identify people with identified alcohol and other drug use vulnerabilities and to strengthen the partnerships with the Alcohol and Drug Services. The alcohol and other drug nurse practitioner is now working with HAART to continue to assist in improving the management of people accessing HAART who have co-occurring mental health and alcohol and other drug issues.
In addition, Youth Drug and Alcohol Program clinicians from the Alcohol and Drug Service are completing training in family therapy in order to provide an extension of the therapy to the wider family. A comorbidity clinician from the Alcohol and Drug Service is also providing smoking cessation and nicotine management education to primary health staff and forensic mental health staff at the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
Currently, MHJHADS are also finalising the development of the Responding to People with Co-occurring Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Conditions Plan. This plan will provide guidelines and priorities for the treatment and support of people with co-occurring mental health and drug and alcohol conditions within the public health system and is due to be completed this year.
This plan aligns with the Health Directorate’s work regarding the next Drug Strategy Action Plan, which is currently in development, after the completion of the previous Drug Strategy Action Plan 2018-2021. This next Drug Strategy Action Plan will again focus on people with co-occurring mental health and substance use issues as a priority group and will help to identify the best evidence-based policy and program activities and investments to develop and maintain effective integrated mental health and substance use sectors.
While these plans are in development, the Health Directorate is also moving forward with work for the integration of these services. As an example, the ACT government has committed to the redevelopment of the Watson health precinct to deliver a world-class, community-led alcohol and other drug and mental health treatment precinct for those most in need.
The government provided $803,000 in the 2021-22 budget for this work, including $550,000 in funding for the initial design work for rebuilt facilities for the Ted Noffs youth alcohol and other drug residential rehabilitation; the CatholicCare youth mental health facility; and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander alcohol and other drug residential rehabilitation facility. The total funding also includes $253,000 in funding for staff for Winnunga Nimmityjah, to help that organisation plan for the new facility.
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