Abstract
Cognitive remediation (CR) programs are new to substance treatment and research needs to evaluate their implementation. The context of implementation, specifically staff perceptions, is critical to changing practice. The aim of this study was to identify treatment staff members perceptions about the benefits and challenges of a new CR intervention in their workplace. The study conducted semi-structured interviews with staff at a residential substance treatment center when the CR program was first being implemented and again six months later. The study interviewed eight staff members in each round (>50% of staff members in the unit) from all role designations. A critical perspective shaped a thematic analysis of challenges to implementation. The study identified benefits of the CR program to clients and staff. However, only one staff member participated in training to deliver the program. In principle, staff members support the program, but this does not necessarily transla
Abstract
Drawing on relevant sociological and feminist theories namely a social constructivist and intersectional framework, this article explores ways in which migrant Iranian men as ‘refugees’ ‘who use drugs’ navigate the complex terrain of ‘double displacement’ in the Australian contemporary context. It presents findings from a series of community based participatory and culturally responsive focus groups and in-depth interviews of twenty-seven participants in Sydney, Australia. Results highlight the ways in which social categories of gender, language, class, ethnicity, race, migration status and their relationship to intersubjective hierarchies and exclusion in Australia circumnavigate and intervene with participants’ alcohol and other drugs’ (AOD) use and related harms. The article argues that there is a need to pay greater attention to the implications of masculinities, power relations and the resultant material, social and affective emotional impacts of displa
Conditional welfare has become a prominent policy tool in recent years. One of the harshest forms of conditional welfare in Australia is arguably compulsory income management (CIM) which involves the quarantining of between 50 and 90 per cent of a participant’s benefit payment for spending on food, rent and other essential items. A leading aim of all Australian income management (IM) programs since 2007 has been the reduction of alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse by participants, which is expected to reduce associated social and community harms. Building on the mixed findings of official evaluations of IM, this qualitative study examines the views of both compulsory and voluntary IM participants and community stakeholders concerning AOD abuse in four IM sites. It concludes that there is little evidence to support the view that IM per se contributes to a significant reduction in AOD abuse.
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Why young refugees face challenges
New research has revealed the obstacles young African migrants face when adapting to life in Australia – with significant barriers leading to high rates of alcohol consumption and poor mental health outcomes often caused by efforts to assimilate in new communities.
The study, published in The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, focused on the traumatic impacts of losing family members and social disruption in their countries of origin, with African migrants and young refugees then experiencing stress related to inadequate socioeconomic and cultural support, discrimination, poverty and unemployment upon their arrival in Australia.