ADAT Priorities

Lanarkshire ADAT's overarching aim is to reduce the harm that alcohol and drugs causes to communities, individuals and their families.  Work towards this has centred on the objectives outlined in Scotland's national alcohol and drug strategies (Plan for Action on Alcohol Problems 2002, updated 2007; Tackling Drugs in Scotland, Action in Partnership, 1999).  Our priorities for action, set out below, will form the basis of our three year Delivery Plan.  The annual Delivery Plan provides a regular update on progress to the Scottish Government and specifies which organisations are responsible for making sure the Strategy is delivered.
 

Aim 1 - Safeguarding and promoting the interests of children, young people and families affected by substance misuse

 
Our priorities for action over the next three years for each of the three strands relating to the broad ranging issues for children, young people and families include: 
 

Strand 1 - Education/Prevention (Early Intervention)/

Diversion

  • Reducing the level of alcohol and drug use among our young people, as well as the problems arising from this
  • Working with our partners across the statutory and voluntary sector to improve drug and alcohol education and information for young people, their parents/carers and staff who work with young people
  • Providing vulnerable young people with support and targeted prevention programmes
  • Developing appropriate early interventions which will ensure that young people are able to get help when they need it
  • Supporting and promoting diversionary activities and programmes for young people
  • Supporting and promoting outreach/streetwork with young people

Strand 2 - Children and Young People Affected by Parental Substance Misuse

  • Promoting better outcomes for children affected by drug and alcohol use in the home through continued training and service development to support children, young people and families

Strand 3 - Young People with Problematic Substance Misuse

  • Providing and monitoring accessible treatment services appropriate to the needs of young people
  • Ensuring that when designing services, we place particular emphasis on those who are deemed at risk or vulnerable, incuding hard-to-reach young people

 

Aim 2 - Reducing the level of alcohol and drug-related harm at a community level

Changing the alcohol and drug culture in Lanarkshire requires a sustained and long-term effort.  It requires commitment and action from a range of partners and cannot be delivered by a single approach.  Our priorities for action over the next three years include:

  • Engaging and persuading all stakeholders with an interest in - or experience of - alcohol and drug problems to become actively involved in local planning groups, licensing forums or programmes of prevention
  • Encouraging the alcohol industry and licensed trade to promote responsible drinking and become more involved in national and local initiatives to restrict inappropriate supply
  • Working with employers to develop reasonable alcohol and drug policies, as well as ensuring workplace health and safety and promoting the health of employees
  • Listening to, and learning from, the views and experiences of service users
  • Encouraging all of us, as responsible citizens, to consider our own attitudes and behaviours, both in the ways in which we use alcohol and our attitudes towards those who are suffering from alcohol problems
  • Producing local publications which provide clear and credible information about our local services and ensuring these are available throughout Lanarkshire
  • Using intelligence-led policing and incident analysis to ensure that a focused and proactive approach is used to tackle anti-social behaviour, crime and the availability of illegal drugs
  • Increasing the help available to people experiencing alcohol-related problems by using brief interventions in primary care settings

 

Aim 3 - Supporting individuals with alcohol and drug problems

Over the next three years we will focus on ensuring that treatment and care providers deliver high quality, evidence-based treatment which is readily accessible and appropriate to the needs of service users.  We will also ensure that service users have appropriate access to services which support, consolidate and sustain the benefits of treatment (e.g. access to employment, education and housing), provided by agencies which are not part of the formal treatment system.  Our priorities for action over the next three years include:

  • Supporting the delivery of person-centred services which meet the needs of individuals and their families
  • Promoting existing best-practice guidelines for the treatment and support of people needing alcohol and drug services
  • Ensuring that care providers deliver high quality, evidence-based treatment which is appropriate to service users
  • Assessing local capacity, identifying any service gaps and allocating resources to address these
  • Monitoring Service Level Agreements with local partners to ensure that investment delivers measurable results
  • Continuing to train staff working at all levels in alcohol and drug services in Lanarkshire
  • Planning for services to address the impact that an ageing population may have on the demand for alcohol services
  • Linking with partners to ensure tha alcohol or drug problems associated with another physical or mental illness are responded to appropriately
  • Providing access to services which support and consolidate the benefits of treatment (e.g. access to employment, education and housing)
  • Providing information about how the treatment and care system is run, enabling partnerships, providers and the ADAT to be held to account
  • Ensuring that the treatment and care system meets the needs of the whole population it serves 

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