Alcohol and other drugs (AOD)
About the pathway
Welcome to the Alcohol and other drugs (AOD) learning pathway. This pathway is for all practitioners working with adults, whether as a generalist practitioner or as an AOD specialist.
While rates of smoking and alcohol consumption are declining, substance use still plays a big role in Australian culture. Studies show that around 36% of Australians either drank alcohol at harmful levels or smoked daily in a 12-month period, and the number of people using illicit drugs has increased in recent years.1 Many of these people will be parents, who may present to your service for co-existing issues such as mental health concerns, financial or housing difficulties, or family and domestic violence.
When you are working to support a parent with substance use issues, it can be easy to overlook the impact of their alcohol/drug use on their child. But understanding this impact and working with parents to reduce it is key to supporting children’s long-term mental health and wellbeing.
This pathway explores the potential impacts of parental substance use on children’s relationships, physical and mental health, and wellbeing. It provides a guide for talking with parents about their substance use and how it may be affecting their child, and strategies to help empower parents by identifying their strengths and the hopes they have for their family.
Learning outcomes
As you progress through this learning pathway you will build your understanding and skills across a range of key areas, including:
- the nature and prevalence of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use in Australia
- the impact of parental substance use on children’s social and emotional wellbeing
- a view of parental substance use that enables child-focused approaches
- the importance of identifying and responding to issues of parental substance use in ways that prevent immediate and long-term consequences for children’s social and emotional wellbeing
- key parent-engagement principles to conduct these conversations so you can avoid stigmatisation or judgment, and create shared understandings that respect the parent’s role
- utilising the PERCS conversation guide to be curious with clients about their children’s social and emotional wellbeing
- reflecting on, and asking about, the five PERCS domains in a child’s life to support parents to consider the impacts of parental substance use on their children’s social and emotional wellbeing
- understanding stigma, and gendered stigma, in relation to engaging mothers and fathers affected by substance use; and
- understanding the link between trauma and substance use, and trauma-informed practice.
References
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2020). National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019. Drug Statistics series no. 32. PHE 270. Canberra AIHW.