This month has highlighted important themes that are central to integrated care, including culturally safe practice, early identification of co-occurring conditions and reducing stigma around addiction.-

• During NAIDOC Week (5-12), we celebrated the history, cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, while reflecting on our shared responsibility to improve health outcomes for First Nations communities.
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  This year was particularly special: Fifty Years of Deadly marks a milestone. It’s a tribute to the people who built this movement. The Elders who stood firm, the organisers who made space, the artists who turned resistance into expression and the communities who keep showing up, year after year.
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  As mental health and substance use issues continue to contribute disproportionately to poor health outcomes, it’s essential that our workforces are equipped to deliver culturally safe and responsive care. Our online module ‘Culturally safe practice for First Nations Peoples with co-occurring conditions’ provides an introduction to this topic and is free for Victorian mental health and AOD workers. Learn more.
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• Ensuring people can access the right support also means recognising the different factors that may be affecting someone’s health and wellbeing, especially when stigma or shame get in the way of disclosure. Early screening and assessment are critical in helping us identify co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions, supporting earlier intervention and more coordinated care.
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  Our latest research brief provides an overview of the most appropriate and best-fit screening tools, key considerations for practice and resources to support clinicians working with people experiencing co-occurring conditions. We’ve designed this brief to suit mental health and AOD settings, with information on what is most useful for each setting or population. You can access the full brief here.
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• I also invite you to read a recent article that Turning Point Executive Clinical Director, Prof Dan Lubman, and I wrote for The Conversation, exploring what people think of when they hear the word ‘addiction’ and why many of these perceptions continue to contribute to stigma.
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  Changing public perspectives and recognising addiction as a health condition is critical if we are to make a real difference in getting people and families the help and support they deserve. Read the article here.
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• On my radar is the RANZCP Faculty of Psychotherapy Conference. Held in Melbourne from 8-10 October, it features a packed program of content that is highly relevant to therapists and practitioners in the co-occurring disorders field.

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