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TAG CLOUD
March 30, 2012
DOVETAIL SUMMIT 2012: ON NOW!
The inaugral Dovetail Summit is happening right now, at the Holiday Inn in Brisbane. You can keep up with all of the day's proceedings by checking out the Dovetail Summit Blog here at http://dovetailsummit.posterous.com/ and also follow the twitter feed with the tag #dtsummit
March 30, 2012
CONSUME: MAGAZINE FROM THE EATING DISORDERS ASSOCIATION OF QUEENSLAND
The Eating Disorders Association Inc (Qld) have published a magazine designed by young people and youth educators to promote positive body image, health, tolerance and personal responsibility. So far, over 14 000 copies of the magazine have been distributed to local Brisbane high schools. The magazine contains articles on topics including sex, drugs and safer partying, information about puberty, healthy eating tips, information on politics and activism as well as phone numbers for various support services.
Posted in: Resources for Young People
March 30, 2012
DRUGS METER: REAL TIME FEEDBACK ON ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUG USE
From the people who developed the "MixMag Global Survey of Drug Use", comes the "Drugs Meter". The "Drugs Meter" is a web based application (soon to be released for iPhone and Android) which is designed to give realistic, personalised feedback on current alcohol and other drug use. The application is unique in that it considers individual risk factors, and provides feedback about current levels of use, and possible risks of harm. People can compare their alcohol and drug use with the general population, but also with other people who use alcohol and other drugs, potentially providing more meaningful feedback to people who use substances.
Posted in: Resources for Young People
March 29, 2012
LOOKING BACK AT THE HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN DRUG LAWS
ABC Radio National's program "Rear Vision" recently broadcast an edition titled "Illegal Drugs". The radio documentary looks at the origins of prohibition globally and in Australia, and features interviews with a number of notable academics including Professor Desmond Manderson (author of "From Mr Sin to Mr Big: A History of Australian Drug Laws"), Professor Robin Room (Professor of Alcohol Policy Research, University of Melbourne), Professor Alison Ritter (Director of the Drug Policy Modelling Program, UNSW) and Dr Alex Wodak (President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation).
Listen now or download a transcript here.
Posted in: Research
March 23, 2012
DOVETAIL SUMMIT 2012
Dovetail is hosting its inaugural Summit on Thursday 29th and Friday the 30th of March in Brisbane. Frontline practitioners, managers, policy, research and government representatives from across the state will be discussing key youth alcohol and drug use issues and identifying an action plan for the future. Size constraints have meant that this event is limited to invitation only, however anyone from across Queensland can still be part of the action by following the twitter feed (#dtsummit) or by subscribing to the Summit blog at http://www.dovetailsummit.posterous.com
Posted in: Training & Events
March 23, 2012
ANCD POSITION PAPER ON SUSTAINED RELEASE NALTREXONE
Many workers have been concerned about the use of sustained release naltrexone for opiate dependence, despite limited evidence of safety or efficacy. The Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) have now released a position paper on this issue, where they describe the current situation (where implants are being accessed via the "Special Access" scheme run by the Therapeutic Goods Administration) as "ethically problematic as it puts patients at risk of unknown harms, for an unknown benefit."
Posted in: Research
March 23, 2012
YOUTH JUSTICE CONFERENCING: DOES IT REDUCE RE-OFFENDING?
Youth Justice Conferencing, where young people who have committed crimes are brought face to face with the victims, has been found to be no more effective at reducing re-offending than regular Children's Court processes, according to research from the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR). The researchers tracked a sample of young people who were going through usual court processes, with a group of matched young people engaged in a youth justice conference. The researchers found 65% of the young people who went through the usual court process re-offended within two years, whilst 64% of the conferencing group re-offended during the study period. More research is required to better understand specific elements which may enhance or reduce the effectiveness of these types of alternative justice approaches.
Youth Justice Conferences: Participant profile and conference characteristics (465KB PDF)
Posted in: Research
March 16, 2012
GENDER RESPONSIVE PREVENTION
The World Health Organization (WHO) have published a report which looks at the evidence base for effective prevention of injuries and substance use, and how this can be applied with consideration of the impacts of gender norms and values. The report is divided in two, with the first half focused on the evidence for effective prevention programs, whilst the second part of the report considers gender as a determinant of adolescent health.
Posted in: Research
March 16, 2012
PERCEPTIONS OF LOW RISK DRINKING LEVELS
The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE - formerly known as AERF) have published a report which looks at what Australian people consider to be "low risk" drinking. Not surprisingly, the study found wide variations in perceptions. With regards to long term harms, participants were close; indicating that they thought 2.5 standard drinks per day for men, and 1.4 standard drinks per day for women would prevent long term harm. When it came to the risks of short term harm, participants were way off. Younger respondents (aged 14-19) on average indicated that 8.8 standard drinks for men, and 6.5 standard drinks for women would protect them from risks of short term harms.
Posted in: Research
March 16, 2012
YOUNG PEOPLE CONSENTING TO HEALTH CARE
Queensland Health have published a document titled "Guide to Informed Decision Making in Health Care". The document contains a chapter specifically dealing with informed consent and young people, which would be of interest to many people working in the young alcohol and drug field. This is a complex area of practice, and in the past there has been a dearth of reliable information available specifically dealing with the Queensland health care context. While this guide is designed specifically for use within Queensland Health, other services will find it useful to refer to when considering developing their own policies.
Queensland Health: Guide to Informed Decision-making in Healthcare (1.9MB PDF)
Posted in: Treatment Tools
