Western Sydney AOD set up an opportunistic screening and brief
therapy programme at Cumberland Hospital's Paringa Centre (acute
psychiatric admission ward). The aim was to screen all psychiatric
patients for AOD problems and to provide any identified as hazardous
users with help based on the harm minimisation model. The project
involved staff training, implementation of screening tools (Alcohol
Use Disorders Identification Test [AUDIT]; Drug Abuse Screening Test
[DAST]; Drinking Self-efficacy Scale) and the addition of Brief
Therapy to the ward programme. All patients identified for inclusion
in the programme received either:
60 minutes of Brief Intervention Therapy + 2 to 4
sessions of skills training + after care
or
60 minutes of Minimal Intervention procedure.
The project addresses data analysis, outcome measures and
follow-up. and ensures that clients not initially included in the
Brief Therapy condition will not disadvantaged.
Thiagarajan Sidarthan can be contacted at: Drug
& Alcohol Centre, 4a Fleet Street, North Parramatta, 2151 (02)
9840 3888
