Unit of competency details
HLTAHCS011 - Provide support to clients experiencing alcohol and other drugs problems (Release 1)
Summary
Usage recommendation:
Current
Releases:
| 1 1 (this release) |
15/Dec/2022 |
Companion volumes:
Unit of competency
Assessment requirements
Training packages that include this unit
Qualifications that include this unit
Classifications
Classification history
| ASCED Module/Unit of Competency Field of Education Identifier | 061305 | Indigenous Health | 08/Feb/2023 | |
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Unit of competency
Modification History
Not applicable.
Application
This unit describes the performance outcomes, skills and knowledge required to provide information and primary support to clients experiencing issues with alcohol and other drugs to enable them to make informed choices about treatments and support services.
It requires the ability to assist clients to participate in the planning of their ongoing care, take self-management approaches, and to access support services. It covers the coordination of follow-up care for clients.
The unit does not cover the skills needed to provide specific alcohol and other drugs interventions or specialised services. Those skills are addressed in alcohol and other drugs units in the Community Services Training Package.
This unit is specific to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people working as health workers or health practitioners. They work as part of a multidisciplinary primary health care team to provide primary support to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander clients but this unit does not provide skills for counselling clients.
The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State or Territory legislation, Australian standards and industry codes of practice.
No regulatory requirement for certification, occupational or business licensing is linked to this unit at the time of publication. For information about practitioner registration and accredited courses of study, contact the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia (ATSIHPBA).
Pre-requisite Unit
Nil
Competency Field
Health Care and Support
Unit Sector
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health
Elements and Performance Criteria
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ELEMENTS
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PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
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Elements describe the essential outcomes
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Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element.
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1. Assist clients with self-management approaches for alcohol and other drugs issues.
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1.1. Provide information about impacts of substance misuse and treatment options relevant to specific substances in plain language using culturally appropriate and safe communication.
1.2. Explain to client their role in managing their care and elements of self-management.
1.3. Assist client to express their needs and preferences and encourage their own choices for treatments and care.
1.4. Assist clients to actively participate in the ongoing development of multidisciplinary care plans.
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2. Provide resources and information about alcohol and other drugs issues.
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2.1. Provide culturally appropriate consumer based education resources about substance misuse and its treatment to clients and their families.
2.2. Inform clients about drug and alcohol support services available in the community, state or territory.
2.3. Facilitate access to support services according to client needs and preferences.
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3. Provide ongoing support.
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3.1. Communicate consistently in culturally appropriate and safe ways with client, using plain language.
3.2. Assist clients with information about available therapeutic services and how these can be accessed.
3.3. Facilitate referrals for clients according to multidisciplinary clinical partnerships.
3.4. Discuss barriers faced by client in accessing care and support services and recommend resolutions.
3.5. Identify and promote the use of client’s own support networks.
3.6. Explain to client importance of regular reassessments in managing their care.
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4. Complete documentation and provide follow-up support.
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4.1. Update client records to include details of services, information and referrals provided to client, according to organisational procedures.
4.2. Plan and provide continuity of support in consultation with client and multidisciplinary team.
4.3. Organise follow-up support for clients using organisational client information systems and follow up procedures.
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Foundation Skills
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Foundation skills essential to performance in this unit, but not explicit in the performance criteria are listed here, along with a brief context statement.
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SKILLS
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DESCRIPTION
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Reading skills to:
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- interpret detailed and sometimes unfamiliar client records, involving medical terminology and abbreviations
- interpret detailed and sometimes unfamiliar plain language consumer based education resources.
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Writing skills to:
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- use fundamental sentence structure, health terminology and abbreviations to complete forms and reports that require factual and subjective information.
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Oral communication skills to:
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- use language and terms sensitive to client values and emotional state
- ask open and closed probe questions and actively listen to determine client needs and understanding of information provided.
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Learning skills to:
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- use information provided in credible evidence based consumer resources to update and extend knowledge of alcohol and other drugs issues, care options and available support services.
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Initiative and enterprise skills to:
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- source information that meets the specific needs of clients and families.
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Unit Mapping Information
This unit supersedes and is not equivalent to HLTAHW012 Assist with prevention and minimisation of substance abuse.
Links
Companion Volume implementation guides are found in VETNet - https://vetnet.gov.au/Pages/TrainingDocs.aspx?q=ced1390f-48d9-4ab0-bd50-b015e5485705
Assessment requirements
Modification History
Not applicable.
Performance Evidence
Evidence of the ability to complete tasks outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit in the context of the job role, and:
- provide support to three different Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander clients experiencing alcohol or other drug problems and consistently:
- communicate in culturally safe ways
- show empathy and sensitivity according to individual needs
- for each of the three clients, and according to their individual needs:
- source credible consumer based education resources on alcohol and other drug problems, and treatment and care options from support services, and clearly explain these to the client
- source information about non-clinical support services, explain their key features and advise the client how to access services
- plan and organise continuity of support in consultation with the client and multidisciplinary team
- document, in client records, accurate details of each client contact including details of services, information and referrals provided.
Knowledge Evidence
Demonstrated knowledge required to complete the tasks outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit:
- organisational procedures for client record keeping
- techniques used to communicate with clients experiencing alcohol and other drug problems
- distinctions between providing counselling and primary support
- patterns of drug and alcohol consumption in the local community
- priority drugs identified in Australia’s National Drug Strategy (or its successor) as causing the most harm, and how they are used and administered:
- alcohol
- methamphetamines and other stimulants
- opioids
- cannabis
- non-medical use of pharmaceuticals
- tobacco
- other substances relevant to the specific community
- emerging trends in drug types and their use
- for priority drugs:
- on functioning of major body organs and systems
- on pregnancy, birth and unborn children, including foetal alcohol syndrome
- on cognitive function
- likely interactions between chronic illness and mental health issues and substance misuse
- basic aspects of blood-borne viruses linked to injecting drug use, and associated high rates of HIV and hepatitis C in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people
- social and emotional impacts:
- family relationships
- self-esteem
- passive exposure to smoke
- behaviour in public places
- employment
- living expenses
- overview of treatment options and protocols
- principles of harm minimisation that underpin Australia’s National Drug Strategy, what they mean and how they impact work at the community health level:
- demand reduction
- supply reduction
- harm reduction
- the concept of holistic health care management for those experiencing problems with alcohol and other drugs:
- the broad meaning of a ‘treatment’ within an alcohol and other drugs (AOD) care plan
- the effectiveness of a multidimensional approach
- the potential reach of a multidisciplinary team, and an overview of the roles, boundaries and interrelationships of those who may be involved in the care of people experiencing problems with alcohol and other drugs:
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander health workers and practitioners
- primary health practitioners including general medical practitioners and nurses
- mental health practitioners including psychiatrists, mental health nurses, psychologists, alcohol and other drugs counsellors
- social workers
- community workers
- mental health workers
- specialist alcohol and other drug workers
- how multidisciplinary team members work together to coordinate treatments and care for those affected by substance misuse, and how to facilitate referrals
- the elements and importance of client self-management:
- acknowledging the problem being experienced
- sharing in decision-making for care plans, treatments, support services and ongoing care
- following an agreed care plan
- monitoring own progress
- adopting a healthy lifestyle
- accessing and using support services
- factors that may impact on client choice of treatments, care and support options:
- adherence to traditional and spiritual belief systems
- perceptions of risk and benefits
- ability to manage self-care
- current and credible consumer based resources and information about treatment and care options in the client decision-making process
- respecting client values and choice of treatments, care and support
- providing balanced and evidence based information to assist with decisions
- barriers and difficulties faced by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people and their families who need to travel to care and support services
- alcohol and other drugs care and support services available in the community, state or territory:
- for the specific substance
- non-clinical support services to assist with underlying cause(s)
- specialist services available to people of different genders and ages, and to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people
- how to access information about the types of services and consumer based education resources they provide
- therapeutic services and any associated costs and benefits paid
- how clients can access services and the role of health workers and practitioners in facilitating access
- the importance of continuity of care for clients experiencing problems with alcohol and other drugs
- how to use client information systems and recall functions to follow-up clients for care.
Assessment Conditions
Skills must be demonstrated in a health service workplace within a multidisciplinary primary health care team.
Evidence of performance must be gathered:
- during on-the-job assessments in the workplace under live conditions while interacting with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, or
- during off-the-job assessments in the workplace, not under live conditions, using simulated activities while interacting with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.
Evidence of workplace performance can be gathered and reported through third party report processes. (Refer to the Companion Volume Implementation Guide for information on third party reporting.)
Evidence can be supplemented by assessments in a simulated workplace environment using simulated activities, scenarios or case studies only when:
- the full range of situations covered by the unit cannot be provided in the individual’s workplace, or
- situations covered by the unit occur only rarely in the individual’s workplace.
Assessment must ensure the use of:
- client records
- current and credible consumer-based education resources from alcohol and other drugs care and support services covering different types of substance misuse problems, impacts, treatment and support options
- information about different types of substance misuse care and support services designed to meet the needs of people of different ages, genders, and those for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people if available
- organisational procedures for client record keeping.
Assessors must satisfy the Standards for Registered Training Organisations requirements for assessors, and:
- be an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person who has applied the skills and knowledge covered in this unit of competency through experience working as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander health worker or practitioner, or
- be a registered health practitioner with experience relevant to this unit of competency and be accompanied by, or have assessments validated by, an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person.
Links
Companion Volume implementation guides are found in VETNet - https://vetnet.gov.au/Pages/TrainingDocs.aspx?q=ced1390f-48d9-4ab0-bd50-b015e5485705
