Using the WHO ASSIST to Assess Drug and Alcohol Misuse in the Acute Mental Health Setting to Guide Treatment Interventions

This article reports the prevalence of alcohol and substance use in 695 patients with mental illnesses admitted to an inner city acute mental health unit over a 14 month period. Data were collected from routine screening for alcohol and substance use on admission to the acute mental health unit usin...

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Main Authors: Heslop, Karen, Ross, C., Berkin, J., Wynaden, Dianne
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer New York LLC 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22570
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author Heslop, Karen
Ross, C.
Berkin, J.
Wynaden, Dianne
author_facet Heslop, Karen
Ross, C.
Berkin, J.
Wynaden, Dianne
author_sort Heslop, Karen
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This article reports the prevalence of alcohol and substance use in 695 patients with mental illnesses admitted to an inner city acute mental health unit over a 14 month period. Data were collected from routine screening for alcohol and substance use on admission to the acute mental health unit using the World Health Organisation (WHO) Alcohol Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST).The substances most frequently used were tobacco, alcohol and cannabis. Interventions aimed at decreasing the frequency of use and harms associated with use of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis therefore have the greatest potential to improve health outcomes in this population.As drug and alcohol impact significantly on mental health outcomes, assessment of substance use, recognition of addictive behaviours, withdrawal management that includes appropriate pharmacological intervention and supportive counselling that is initiated in the acute mental health setting and continued post discharge are important to the person’s recovery and ongoing quality of life.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-225702017-09-13T13:57:44Z Using the WHO ASSIST to Assess Drug and Alcohol Misuse in the Acute Mental Health Setting to Guide Treatment Interventions Heslop, Karen Ross, C. Berkin, J. Wynaden, Dianne This article reports the prevalence of alcohol and substance use in 695 patients with mental illnesses admitted to an inner city acute mental health unit over a 14 month period. Data were collected from routine screening for alcohol and substance use on admission to the acute mental health unit using the World Health Organisation (WHO) Alcohol Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST).The substances most frequently used were tobacco, alcohol and cannabis. Interventions aimed at decreasing the frequency of use and harms associated with use of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis therefore have the greatest potential to improve health outcomes in this population.As drug and alcohol impact significantly on mental health outcomes, assessment of substance use, recognition of addictive behaviours, withdrawal management that includes appropriate pharmacological intervention and supportive counselling that is initiated in the acute mental health setting and continued post discharge are important to the person’s recovery and ongoing quality of life. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22570 10.1007/s11469-015-9548-z Springer New York LLC restricted
spellingShingle Heslop, Karen
Ross, C.
Berkin, J.
Wynaden, Dianne
Using the WHO ASSIST to Assess Drug and Alcohol Misuse in the Acute Mental Health Setting to Guide Treatment Interventions
title Using the WHO ASSIST to Assess Drug and Alcohol Misuse in the Acute Mental Health Setting to Guide Treatment Interventions
title_full Using the WHO ASSIST to Assess Drug and Alcohol Misuse in the Acute Mental Health Setting to Guide Treatment Interventions
title_fullStr Using the WHO ASSIST to Assess Drug and Alcohol Misuse in the Acute Mental Health Setting to Guide Treatment Interventions
title_full_unstemmed Using the WHO ASSIST to Assess Drug and Alcohol Misuse in the Acute Mental Health Setting to Guide Treatment Interventions
title_short Using the WHO ASSIST to Assess Drug and Alcohol Misuse in the Acute Mental Health Setting to Guide Treatment Interventions
title_sort using the who assist to assess drug and alcohol misuse in the acute mental health setting to guide treatment interventions
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22570