Service Description
Amity Community Services have been developed from the Organization's
Strategic Plan.
Service Purpose
To provide a range of services which assist individuals
in the community to choose healthy lifestyles and develop healthy
living conditions, particularly as these relate to drug use and
other issues pertaining to habit forming behaviours.
Service Objectives
To contribute to the well-being of the community by minimizing
the harmful consequences of drug use and other habit forming lifestyle
issues by:
- providing the community with information with which to make
informed choices about drug use and other lifestyle issues;
- assisting individuals to develop the skills necessary to implement
choices about drug use and lifestyle issues;
- raising awareness of drug and other lifestyle issues through
advocacy and consultation.
Implementation
Services are delivered via two aspects, the intervention services
and the early intervention and prevention services; professionally
trained staff who ensure a safe non-threatening, non-judgemental
atmosphere, and who display unconditional positive regard for all
persons; use of researched and proven education and intervention
methods; quality assurance and best practice principles.
INTERVENTION SERVICES
are offered to persons wishing to address issues relating to their
own, or another's, drug use or other lifestyle behaviour. They comprise
of assessment, counselling, skills training and education.
Assessment, Counselling and Skills Training Objectives
to assist clients to define the relationship between lifestyle and
problematic behaviour; to assist clients to identify goal(s) and
strategies for change; to assist clients to develop the skills to
implement strategies to achieve and maintain goal(s).
Strategies for attaining Assessment, Counselling
& Skills Training Objectives
Individual comprehensive assessment.
Information, education, counselling and skills training to individuals
and/or groups.
Motivational interviewing techniques.
Description of Strategies
Assessments are conducted through individual interviews,
by appointment, of approximately 1.5 hours duration. The process
includes a personal, family and social history, detailed examination
of all factors relating to the problematic behaviour, and is followed
by client/counsellor evaluation and negotiation of goals and strategies.
Further intervention is available to those clients who decide that
additional assistance is required in order to achieve the identified
goal(s). Sessions are usually of 1 to 1.5 hours duration and may
include one or more of the following:
Drug education - minimal or comprehensive drug
information and education may be delivered within an individual
counselling session, depending on client need.
Individual counselling designed to give clients
the opportunity to discuss issues which require a one to one counselling
relationship.
Skills training (the range listed below) involves
an active process and has a cognitive behavioural approach. Training
may be conducted in a group setting or individually depending of
demand.
Assertion Training Relapse Prevention/Management
Anger Management Social Skills
Stress Management Leisure Skills/Time Management
Problem Solving/Goal Setting Daily Living Skills
Communication Skills Vocational Skills
Performance Indicators
The proportion of clients who report that the assessment process
clarifies the relationship between lifestyle and problematic behaviour.
The proportion of clients who identify goal(s) and strategies
for change.
Client Outcome Study conducted by Living With Alcohol Program.
DRINK - DRIVER EDUCATION OBJECTIVE:
To provide participants with the information and skills necessary
to make informed choices about drinking and driving, and to plan
alternative strategies to drinking and driving.
Strategies for attaining Drink-Driver Education Objective
Accredited Drink-Driver Education Modules.
Registration with NTETA as a provider of vocational education
and training.
Description of Drink-Driver Education
The course comprises of two competency based training modules,
and was developed by Amity Community Services in response to changes
to the traffic act. The Registrar of Motor Vehicles requires those
people applying for re-licencing following a drink-driving offence
to successfully complete an approved course of education and/or
treatment. The modules are approved by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles
and accredited by the Northern Territory Employment and Training
Authority (NTETA).
The Course is provided on a user-pays basis, and is delivered
during business hours at Amity. After hours and weekend courses
available from other providers in order to increase accessibility.
Module 1 involves seven learning outcomes over
a ten hour period, and meets the re- licencing requirements of first
offenders with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of below 0.15%.
Module 2 consists of four hours and four learning
outcomes. Second and subsequent offenders, or those with a BAC of
0.15% and over are required to complete Modules 1 and 2.
Performance Indicator
Proportion of participants who achieve the required level of
competency.
Recidivism rates - to be evaluated by the Alcohol and Other
Drugs Program.
EARLY INTERVENTION & PREVENTION
SERVICES include a community information and education
service, and a training service for professional groups.
Information/Education Service Objectives
To enhance health literacy in order to enable people to make
informed choices about drug use and other lifestyle issues pertaining
to habit forming behaviours.
To provide minimal intervention for people with drug or other
lifestyle issues.
Strategies for attaining Information/Education Service
Objectives
Telephone information service.
Dissemination of information via public displays and the media.
Distribution, and where appropriate development, of self-help
and other resource materials, and resource library.
Drug and other lifestyle information and education to industry,
service providers and community groups.
Performance Indicators
Number of contacts via the telephone information service and
public displays.
Number of self-help resources distributed.
Number of individuals accessed through educations sessions.
TRAINING SERVICE OBJECTIVE:
to enable other service providers and industry groups to recognize
and minimize the harm associated with drug use and other habit forming
behaviours.
Strategies for attaining Training Service Objective
Training programmes to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes
with which to address drug use and other lifestyle issues.
Competency based training format and adult learning principles.
Performance Indicators
Proportion of trainees who evaluate training as useful.
CONSULTANCY / ADVOCACY OBJECTIVE:
to increase the proportion of public policy makers with knowledge
and information on the relation of drug and other lifestyle issues
to wider health and social policy issues.
Strategies for attaining Consultancy/Advocacy Objective
Liaise with public policy makers.
Contribute to public debate on drug and lifestyle policy issues.
Disseminate relevant data and research in order to inform and
promote community appraisal and discussion of drug and other lifestyle
issues.
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