How to adopt the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) Care Charter in your service

Alcohol and Other Drugs
(AOD) Charter

Why adopt the AOD Care Charter?

Adopting the AOD Care Charter within services may lead to:

• higher quality communication between the person and health provider resulting in improved relationships, safety and outcomes
• people being more knowledgeable about their prognosis, treatment and next steps
• better experience for the person and their health care provider
• better management of interventions and referrals for treatment
• reduced presentations to health services and fewer follow-up appointments
• lower rate of malpractice claims and complaints
• higher job satisfaction for health providers.

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Maya Angelou

When managing your service

• Implement reflective practice for individual staff, with peers, and as a service.
• Promote training and support on the practical use of the AOD Care Charter.
• Review service policies, processes, availability, accessibility and the physical and social environment in line with the AOD Care Charter.
• Ensure supportive leadership and workplace culture by role modelling positive behaviours and challenging and addressing any issues with staff.
• Identify AOD Care Charter champions in the service to help implement the AOD Care Charter.
• Comply with the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights.

When providing care

Consider:

• every interaction a person has with a health or support provider affects their future willingness or ability to seek care
• people are at different stages - some may not wish to stop using alcohol and other drugs or may have financial or other barriers to accessing treatment
• AOD use is a complex health issue with many factors, such as life events
• unconscious bias, such as assumptions or stereotypes about people who use AOD can affect person-clinician interactions
• stigma and discrimination can increase the harms linked to AOD use.

Related links

Training and resources​

• NUAA/NADA Language Matters Guide​
• ​eLearning - Stigma, Discrimination and Injecting Drug Use
• CEC Reflective practice workbook

Research and evidence

• NUAA - Report from the perspective of people who use alcohol and drugs in NSW
• UNSW - Report on the review of Australian initiatives to reduce substance use stigma when accessing health services
• Zest - Report on stigma and discrimination among workforce towards people who use alcohol and drugs

Information for clinicians

• Drug and Alcohol Specialist Advisory Service (DASAS)
• NUAA - The NSW Users and AIDS Association
• NADA – The Network of Alcohol and other Drugs Agencies