Managing Mental Health and Substance Abuse in General Practice
Overview
‘Can Do’ is a national initiative, funded through the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing as part of the National Comorbidity Initiative. The initiative promotes a ‘can do’ approach to General Practice to meet the challenge of mental health and substance use and focuses on education, training and networking between two multi-disciplinary teams of health professionals, namely:
- General Practice Teams
- Community Health Teams (especially those engaged in alcohol, drug and mental health service delivery as well as community pharmacy)
Objectives
The ‘Can Do’ initiative aims to improve the capacity of General Practice and Divisions to recognize and effectively respond to mental health and substance use in their community through:
- The implementation of structured education and training focused on multi-disciplinary team approaches and covering the coordination of care assessment, treatment and referral for service users who present with mental health and substance use conditions.
- The adaptation, dissemination and uptake of accredited resources and materials that enhance General Practice understanding of co-existing mental health and substance use conditions.
Program Detail
The ‘Can Do’ Initiative operates through the utilisation of two separate training modules namely:
- A ‘Teams of Two’Network Training education module, which focuses on professional networking, peer learning and multi-disciplinary team work in the local context using case discussions to address and map access, treatment, referral and review pathways for people with complex mental and drug health needs. Topics covered include:
- Alcohol and depression
- Benzodiazepines and anxiety
- Cannabis, mental health and young people
- Amphetamines and psychosis
- Drugs, pain and opiod dependence
- Drugs, sexual health and pregnancy
- A Clinical Education module, which comprises education sessions that mirror the ‘Teams of Two’ topics. The module is primarily written for delivery to General Practitioners and other health professionals engaged in clinical practice in the fields of drug and alcohol, mental health and pharmacy. Participants in this module are taken through assessment, history taking, epidemiology and discussions of common co-occurring disorders followed by units addressing a range of substance use and mental health disorders. A focus is placed on case discussion, care planning and multi-disciplinary team work.
Both modules have been accredited with RACGP and ACCRM for QA and CPD points and have been endorsed by the Royal College of Nursing, Australia and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.
The pilot phase of ‘Can Do’ has now been finalised with 11 of the 18 Queensland Divisions successfully facilitating and coordinating the ‘Can Do’ training modules.
Currently, the second phase of ‘Can Do’ is being rolled out from September 2007 until March 2008. This phase is entitled ‘Can Do and the Veteran Community’ and is funded by the Department of Veteran Affairs through the Australian General Practice Network (AGPN). This phase will target up to 16 locations across Australia known to include significant catchments of veterans in their communities. It will provide additional accredited education and training for GPs and other primary health care providers with a veteran perspective and additional veteran focused case studies, handouts and resources. Four Queensland Divisions have been identified to participate in this Veteran Phase of ‘Can Do’ and they are as follows:
- Gold Coast Division of General Practice
- GPpartners
- Sunshine Coast Division of General Practice
- Townsville General Practice Network
It is envisaged that a third phase of ‘Can Do’ will take place with the expansion of the content to target particular proposed population groups such as Indigenous People, women and especially those with young children, men and especially those in rural and drought affected areas of Australia, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, young people, families and carers.
Achievements
‘Can Do’ throughout the pilot phase has proved in Queensland to be a successful means through which a vast number of Divisions have been able to identify, attract and engage a broad range of key mental health service providers and facilitators. It has provided for the collaboration and drawing together of a variety of government and non-government organisations, as well as community pharmacists, allied health professionals, General Practitioners, Psychologists, Psychiatrists and other mental health service professionals.
The success of ‘Can Do’ with the support and efforts of the Queensland Divisions it is hoped and expected will continue throughout the next Veteran Phase and to future phases of the initiative.
Resources
Resource materials are available from the National ‘Can Do’ Initiative website and in a CD-ROM format.
Links
Feedback
Karen Hale-Robertson
Senior Program Leader - Mental Health
Email: khale-robertson@gpqld.com.au
Phone: 07 3105 8300