Dr Lynda Berends is an established leader in alcohol and drug services/systems research, having undertaken program and system reviews, policy development work, and capacity building research projects.

Her work ranges from single site evaluations to state and national reviews of programs and systems. Projects often sit across multiple systems, within and beyond health.

Examples of Dr Berends work include:

• an exploration of system design focusing on evidence based treatment modalities and including workforce requirements, for Victoria
• a review of the Greater Western Area Health Service opioid treatment program in NSW
• a process, output, and outcome evaluation of a court-based bail diversion program in Queensland
• a review of Victoria's pharmacotherapy program (with DPMP)
• a national review of community projects targeting alcohol-related problems
• development of standards and an evaluation framework for methadone maintenance clinics in Yunnan, China

Dr Berends has over 60 publications, including peer reviewed articles, book chapters, discussion papers, and technical reports. She has presented at over 40 conferences. 

Dr Berends chairs the Human Services/Systems Working Group on behalf of the Alcohol and Drug Council of Australia. She is an adjunct senior research fellow at Monash University.

• Health service and system design and effectiveness
• Cross-system collaboration
• The relationship between stigma and treatment seeking

• Study on the development of an EU framework for minimum quality standards and benchmarks in drug demand reduction
• Locating alcohol and drug prevention and treatment interventions within national healthcare reform: Research for change (Patient pathways)
• Defining Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment and Workforce 
• Research to Inform a Standards Framework for Substitution Therapy Service Provision in Yunnan Province, China 
• Victorian Pharmacotherapy Review (with the Drug Policy Modelling Program, UNSW) 
• Statewide Review of Places of Safety, Tasmania 
• Windana Alcohol and Drug Day Program: Evaluation
• Mirabel Project 
• Hume Region Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention Project: Evaluation 
• Barwon Youth, Youth Access Program: Evaluation 
• Australian Leadership Award - Fellowship 
• Building an Evidence Base from theFoundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) Funded Projects 
• Queensland Magistrates Early Referral Into Treatment (QMERIT): Evaluation 
• Greater Western Area Health Service Opioid Treatment Review 
• Evaluating the Impact of Local Law 8 in Yarra
• Alcohol and other drug treatment needs and service system responses for older people (>65 years)

• Hunter, B., MacLean, S., & Berends, L. (available January 2012). Using Realist Synthesis to develop an evidence base from an identified data set on enablers and barriers for alcohol and drug program implementation. The Qualitative Report, 17. 
• MacLean, S., Berends, L., Hunter, B., Roberts, B., & Mugavin, J. (in press). What factors help and hinder implementation of projects in community-based alcohol and other drug agencies? Australia and New Zealand Journal of Public Health  
• Berends, L. (2011). Embracing the visual: Using timelines to enhance in-depth interviews on substance abuse and treatment. The Qualitative Report, 16(1), 1-9. Available online; http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR16-1/berends.pdf 
• Berends, L., MacLean, S., Hunter, B., Mugavin, J., & Carswell, S. (2011). Implementing alcohol and other drug interventions effectively: How does location matter? Australian Journal of Rural Health, 19, 211-217. 
• Berends, L. (2010). The emergence of a specialist role in rural alcohol and drug service delivery: Lessons from a review in rural Victoria, Australia. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 17(5), 603-617  
• Berends, L. Hunter, B. (2010). It seemed like a good idea at the time: Experiences in centralised intake for alcohol and drug treatment across three jurisdictions. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 27, 599-611   
• Berends, L., Mugavin, J., Eleftheriadis, D., Strickland, H., & Kenny, P. (November 2010). Queensland Magistrate's Early Referral Into Treatment (QMERIT) pilot program evaluation. Report 2: Outcomes. Fitzroy, Victoria: Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre.
• Berends, L., Mugavin, J., Strickland, H., & Kenny, P. (October 2010). Greater Western Area Health Service Opioid Treatment Program review. Fitzroy, Victoria: Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre. 
• Berends, L., Connolly, K., Pennay, A., Mugavin, J., Cogger, S., Strickland, H., Kenny, P. & Roberts, B. (May 2010). Defining alcohol and other drug treatment and workforce. Fitzroy, Victoria: Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre. Available online: http://docs.health.vic.gov.au/docs/doc/Defining-AOD-treatment-and-workforce-project-(2010) 

Complete Publications List  >>