Official name:
Mapping Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) patient journeys to improve treatment access and engagement

About the research:

The Frankston Mornington Peninsula region experiences substantial alcohol and other drug (AOD) harm, yet there was little understanding of how people navigated AOD treatment. This research aimed to drive practice change across hospitals and AOD treatment services by identifying when and where people can be linked to AOD treatment sooner.

The project was co-designed through collaboration with Self Help Addiction Resource Centre (SHARC, a consumer advocacy organisation), Peninsula Health and Frankston Mornington Peninsula Primary Care Partnership. The team conducted a total of 39 semi-structured interviews, 20 with participants with lived experience and 19 with staff from either AOD specialists or broader healthcare services.
One key outcome was the development of the “Improving access to alcohol and other drug care through health and community services” policy map. The six recommendations around local service delivery for policy makers included:

1. A less siloed system that supports a 'no wrong door' approach to health care
2. Stable housing for women
3. Addressing barriers for older adults
4. Reduced wait times and support people on wait lists\
5. Having peer and service navigators support their treatment journey
6. Building and retaining a skilled AOD workforce.

Chief investigator, Professor Suzi Nielsen said a major challenge is the very long time that people take to access care – 18 years on average – and then many fall through the cracks in between treatment services.

“Working with the National Centre for Healthy Ageing and their data platform is really pivotal in our work, because it allows us to get a big picture understanding of how patients move through the health care system,”  Professor Nielsen said.

“We hope to understand why we lose people from the drug and alcohol treatment system, or why people never connect with the drug and alcohol treatment system.

“Although many people experience harms with drugs and alcohol and they attend emergency departments, for example, they don't receive any care for their drug and alcohol problems.

“We would really like our research to reduce the time it takes, that [average] 18 years that it often takes people who are experiencing problems with drug and alcohol, to be able to get them into care and get them on the path to recovery.”

The research findings are informing the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions that strengthen pathways to improve engagement and retention in AOD treatment. By better supporting patients to navigate their treatment journeys, AOD harm for individuals could be prevented, and related costs for the healthcare system reduced.

Project timing: 2022–2024

For a full list of project resources, please visit the Monash Addiction Research Centre (MARC) project page