Australian Leadership Award - Fellowship

TP staff: Lynda Berends, Barbara Hunter

Summary: HIV transmission rates are on the rise in China and methadone maintenance therapy is essential to tackle this pandemic and provide effective care for opioid users. Methadone maintenance therapy in China has expanded rapidly in the past decade and more than 800 clinics will be in place by end 2009. The Yunnan Institute for Drug Abuse (YIDA) provides leadership and training for clinics; promoting evidence based practice and building organisational capacity. There are substantial challenges in building an efficient system that can interface effectively with primary health and criminal justice sectors.

Turning Point and YIDA worked together in 2008 to develop a standards framework for methadone maintenance clinics in Yunnan. A senior researcher from YIDA will visit Turning Point in the second part of 2009. He will visit pharmacotherapy clinics in metropolitan and regional Victoria and NSW, obtaining a firsthand perspective on preferred treatment and service delivery approaches. His involvement in Australia’s premier substance abuse conference (APSAD) will enable access to the most recent knowledge on treatment effectiveness.
Turning Point welcomes the opportunity to continue our collaborative relationship with YIDA through the support of AusAID.

Start date: July 2009
Completion date:  December 2009

Contact person: Lynda Berends
Phone: 03 8413 8448
Email: Lynda.Berends@turningpoint.org.au

Funding body: AusAID

Barwon Youth, Youth Access Program: Evaluation

TP staff: Pauline Kenny, Lynda Berends

Summary: The Youth Access Program aims to provide co-ordinated pathways and supported referrals for young people in need of AOD treatment. The program offers a specialist youth outreach service to young people aged 12 to 21 years who are located in the Barwon South-West Region of Victoria.

The project involves a process and impact evaluation. The process evaluation will explore the quality of the program; the program’s reach; and, the capacity and effectiveness of the integrated assessment and referral systems. The impact evaluation will measure the immediate effect of the program on clients and stakeholders.

Start date: July 2009
Completion date:  April 2010

Contact person: Pauline Kenny
Phone: 03 8413 8403
Email: Pauline.Kenny@turningpoint.org.au

Funding body: Barwon Youth, Attorney General’s Department (Proceeds of Crime)

Building an Evidence Base from the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation Ltd (AER) Funded Projects

TP staff: Lynda Berends, Sarah MacLean, Barbara Hunter, Janette Mugavin, Robin Room

Summary: Since 2001 the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation Ltd (AER) has funded a wealth of projects intended to reduce the burden of harm arising out of alcohol-misuse and/or inhalant misuse in Australia. It is timely to consolidate the knowledge that has been obtained through this work and disseminate the information to a wide range of audiences. This project will address three research questions:

• What conclusions can we draw from these projects about enabling factors critical to successful implementation?
• What conclusions can we draw about critical barriers to successful implementation, and strategies adopted to deal with barriers?
• What conclusions can we draw about determinants of sustainability in these projects?

Methods include archival research, consultations with a panel of experts, and case studies.

Start date: March 2009
Completion date:  March 2010

Contact person: Sarah MacLean
Phone: 03 8413 8418
Email: Sarah.MacLean@turningpoint.org.au

Funding body: Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation

Hume Region Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention Project: Evaluation

TP staff: Lynda Berends, Bridget Roberts, Janette Mugavin

Summary: The Department of Human Services (Hume Region, Victoria) has commissioned Turning Point to evaluate the process and outcomes of a three year project developing alcohol screening and brief interventions (SBI) in North East Health Wangaratta and Wodonga Regional Health Service. The evaluation will add to knowledge about the main benefits and challenges of systematised SBI, ways of sustaining such work and the integration of SBI into routine hospital practice. Study findings are intended to be a resource for service providers, policy-makers, researchers and others involved in developing or evaluating alcohol interventions. The study involves two main components: analysis of the statistical data collected during the project and consultations with staff involved.

Start date: June 2009
Completion date:  November 2009

Contact person: Lynda Berends, Bridget Roberts
Phone: 03 8413 8448
Email: Lynda.Berends@turningpoint.org.au

Funding body: Department of Human Services, Hume Region

Mirabel Project

TP staff: Lynda Berends, Janette Mugavin

Summary: The Mirabel Foundation assists children who have been orphaned or abandoned due to parental illicit drug use. The main focus of this project is the sustainability of the Mirabel Foundation’s NSW program. The project involves conducting a survey with program staff and key stakeholders and it will make recommendations to guide the sustainability of the service model.

Start date: July 2008
Completion date:  October 2009

Contact person: Lynda Berends
Phone: 03 8413 8448
Email: lynda.berends@turningpoint.org.au

Funding body: Mirabel Foundation

Queensland Magistrates Early Referral Into Treatment (QMERIT): Evaluation

TP staff: Lynda Berends, Pauline Kenny, Amy Swan, Janette Mugavin, Laura Sciacchitano, Dina Eleftheriadis

Summary: Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre is undertaking a comprehensive evaluation of the QMERIT pilot program on behalf of Queensland Health. QMERIT is a pre-sentence diversion program which targets offenders at an early stage in the criminal justice process. Individuals charged with drug-related offences are encouraged to undergo treatment for their illicit drug use problems while they are on bail. The evaluation involves an examination of how the program works, what it provides, and whether it is effective. Methods include a series of interviews with QMERIT clients and individuals from a control site. Site visits, key stakeholder interviews, and offence data are also involved.  

Start date: September 2008
Completion date:  October 2010

Contact person: Lynda Berends
Phone: 03 8413 8448
Email: Lynda.Berends@turningpoint.org.au

Funding body: Queensland Health

Statewide Review of Places of Safety, Tasmania

TP staff: Barbara Hunter, Pauline Kenny, Dina Eleftheriadis, Lynda Berends

Summary: This state-wide review of Places of Safety involves the review of current practice against protocols and legislation, and the comparison of models of practice (and protocols) across the six identified sites of service provision.

The proposed approach has three components:

• Process evaluation, reviewing the current implementation of places of safety services in Tasmania and describing current operational models, services, service demand, workforce capability, protocol arrangements and barriers to accessing services.
• Impact evaluation, measuring the perceived impact of the provision of places of safety services for supporting clients, meeting stakeholder needs and fulfilling legislative requirements.
• Development of recommendations for future operational models and protocol arrangements, including opportunities for improving the accessibility, appropriateness and effectiveness of Places of Safety service delivery.

Start date: June 2009
Completion date:  October 2009

Contact person: Barbara Hunter
Phone: 03 8413 8493
Email: Barbara.Hunter@turningpoint.org.au

Funding body: Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services

Windana Alcohol and Drug Day Program: Evaluation

TP staff: Pauline Kenny, Lynda Berends, Dina Eleftheriadis

Summary: Windana has a new day program that is designed for adults seeking to address their AOD problems in a non-residential, therapeutic environment.  Turning Point is working with Windana staff to establish indicators for baseline and follow-up measurement, to identify whether the program is effective. The collaborative approach to the evaluation means there is opportunity for knowledge sharing about project design and methods, as well as elements of the day program. Turning Point staff will independently evaluate the project data, while seeking input from Windana staff on the significance of findings and practical directions for program improvement.

Start date: December 2008
Completion date:  November 2009

Contact person: Lynda Berends
Phone: 03 8413 8448
Email: Lynda.Berends@turningpoint.org.au

Funding body: Windana, Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing