How to thrive as an alcohol and other drug service
September 2024
In a competitive tendering environment where resources are tight, services need to rely on more than just passion and commitment to do quality work. Evaluation data and quality program documentation are key to demonstrating that your service’s good intentions are translated into positive outcomes for service users.
Program evaluation and models of care are the pillars of quality and effective alcohol and other drug services. They ensure that your service knows what it’s doing, gets results, and is evidence based and delivered consistently.
The power of program evaluation
Program evaluation might sound like a chore, but it’s one of the most valuable investments you can make in your individual programs or service as a whole. Not only does evaluation provide important insights about how well your program is doing and its alignment with best practice, but it also identifies what factors drive (or hinder) your intended service user outcomes.
An evaluation will answer these important questions:
- Is my program working?
- How well is it working?
- What contributes to good outcomes?
- How can we make it better?
The answers will contribute to decisions about quality improvement, service development, program monitoring, and, importantly, resource allocation. This is called best practice data driven decision making. An evaluation will demonstrate your value to service users, the broader community, and funders.
There’s no one-size-fits-all to evaluation, and it can be complex and resource intensive. At 360Edge, we tailor our evaluation methodology to your service’s unique program and needs. We partner with you to develop an evaluation approach that gives you the answers you are seeking.
Why models of care matter
Your service has been evaluated, so what’s the next step? Updating your model of care to reflect the evaluation recommendations is a good start. An up to date model of care is essential to delivering quality alcohol and other drug programs achieving intended service user outcomes.
Models of care guide service delivery by describing all aspects of the program, from the program philosophy to scope of practice and best practice therapeutic modalities. It aligns with the vision and mission of the organisation, type of program, and includes relevant principles. A model of care is fundamental to quality assurance and clinical governance standards.
An up-to-date model of care guides staff to deliver services in line with program design and helps ensure service users are getting the same type of care no matter which staff member is working with them.
It goes without saying that a model of care is one of the most critical documents for an alcohol and other drug program, so it pays to keep it up to date. We work with our service partners to ensure their model of care is developed in line with the organisations’ vision and mission and translates key program principles into practice.
How we can help
Service and workforce improvement can be challenging. The real world is messy, and working on the frontline you need clear practical solutions that work.
We provide practical tailored solutions for any service who works with people who use drugs. We support better responses to alcohol and other drug issues in mental health, primary care, welfare, justice and education sectors, as well as the specialist alcohol and other drug sector. Learn more about how 360Edge can help your service.
Are you interested building your skills in responding to alcohol and other drugs? Check out our diverse range of clinical practice workshops.
