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Community capacity building helps to promote the understanding of alcohol and drug use, mental health challenges and suicide awareness through preventive training and education initiatives.
Our capacity-building initiatives are available to communities across Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region.

“Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to present at our conference. The feedback from staff was very positive.”

Department of Communities

What is Community Capacity Building?

Community capacity building is about helping communities recognise their challenges, come up with practical solutions, and encourage positive behaviour change. It creates a lasting impact by empowering people to take action both individually and together, for long-term, meaningful change.

Here at Holyoake, we work with communities throughout the Wheatbelt to spread information about AOD support, mental health challenges and suicide awareness. If you or someone you know needs support, be sure to contact our team today.

Alcohol and Other Drug Training

The Wheatbelt Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Coordinator (AOD PC) delivers a range of community capacity-building training programs designed to strengthen local knowledge and response to alcohol and other drug issues. These programs include:

Volatile Substance Use and Incident Report & Response Program (1–2 hours)

This targeted capacity-building program provides information about clinical interventions for volatile substance use, including school presentations conducted in collaboration with the Department of Education’s Road Safety and Drug Education Branch (RSDE) representatives.

Topics include:

  • What a volatile substance is
  • The effects and harms of volatile substance use
  • The prevalence of use
  • Harm-minimisation strategies
  • Our incident reporting system and the coordination of community responses

Please note: RSDE provides training for school staff, whereas Holyoake provides support after volatile substance use has been reported.

Valuable Conversations: Reducing the Impact of Alcohol Use During the Childbearing Years (2 days)

This training covers the impact of alcohol consumption during one’s childbearing years. This course is recommended for those working with women and men in their childbearing years (including people from government and non-government agencies). It’s a great program for counsellors, health promotion officers, peer support workers, midwives and child health nurses.

Topics include:

  • Reflective practice as a tool to improve working with community members
  • Trauma-informed care and practice to help recognise why alcohol use may happen during pregnancy
  • Motivational interviewing to express partnership, acceptance, compassion and evocation
  • FASD prevention using the National Strategic Action Plan to guide holistic care
  • Brief interventions to bring together new knowledge and skills to practice

This ‘FASD Prevention in Communities’ training is facilitated by the Mental Health Commission.

FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) Prevention with Communities (1 day)

This course encourages community participation to support healthy behaviours and prevent alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Consuming alcohol can negatively affect the development of a fetus during pregnancy. The course is especially recommended for young people and those planning to have children.

Topics include:

  • Education about FASD
  • Planning and implementing effective FASD prevention in your community
  • Applying for funding from the Mental Health Commission (up to $10,000) to support prevention activities
  • This training is facilitated by the Mental Health Commission

Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) Prevention in Sporting Clubs

This training includes evidence-based AOD presentations and is customised to meet the needs of sporting clubs. Our presentations educate club membership and the broader community about AOD harms and effective harm-reduction strategies.
The Wheatbelt AOD Prevention Coordinator has undergone training through the Australian Drug Foundation to deliver training in local sporting clubs.

Topics include:

  • Overview of common alcohol and other drugs
  • Patterns of use and misuse in community and sporting settings
  • Impacts on physical performance, mental health, and team dynamics

Custom Training Programs

We can develop and deliver custom training to suit specific organisational needs, presented by the Wheatbelt AOD Prevention Coordinator (with Mental Health Literacy facilitated by our Suicide Prevention Coordinator).

Topics include:

Alcohol and other drug literacy
AOD harm reduction and implementing it in your organisation/community
Responding to a methamphetamine or opioid overdose.
Please contact us if you have any training requests, and we can work together to create a presentation to address your needs. Email: wcadsprevention@holyoake.org.au

Online Training

The Mental Health Commission offers free online alcohol and other drug training.

Courses include:

  • Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Online
  • Introduction to Alcohol and Other Drugs: Part One
  • Needle and Syringe Programs Online
  • Naloxone Online

For more information and to register, visit the MHC website: Online learning (mhc.wa.gov.au)

Suicide Prevention & Mental Health and Wellbeing Training

Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention Training (2 days)

Designed for professionals and paraprofessionals, this training provides participants with a wide range of skills and knowledge to improve their ability and confidence to work with suicidal people and make referrals to professional help.

Topics include:

  • Understanding suicidal and self-harm warning signs
  • Suicide risk assessments
  • Intervention strategies
  • Postvention.

Accidental Counsellor (1 day)

Designed for professionals, paraprofessionals, frontline workers, volunteers and the community, this course is for people who want to safely and effectively support friends, family, colleagues and strangers in distress or experiencing a crisis.

The active listening, calming and effective gentle questioning skills learnt on this course can be applied in many contexts and include learning how to ask about suicide risk and respond safely, whatever the answer.

Topics include:

  • Understanding mental health
  • Active listening
  • Questioning skills
  • Suicide awareness and prevention

Rural Minds (half day)

Designed for frontline workers, volunteers and the community, this workshop helps participants improve their awareness and understanding of mental health issues and make the connection between mental health and personal safety.
The workshop promotes confidence, strategies, and pathways to support people in preserving their mental health and the mental health of their family and friends.

Topics include:

  • Understanding mental health
  • Challenging stigma
  • Recognising anxiety and depression
  • Mental health and relationships
  • Dementia awareness
  • Suicide awareness and prevention
  • Alcohol, drugs and mental health.

safeTALK (half day)

Designed for frontline workers, volunteers and the community, safeTALK is a half-day training course in suicide alertness. It helps participants recognise a person with thoughts of suicide and connect them with resources that can help them choose to live.
The training focuses on using the TALK steps – Tell, Ask, Listen, KeepSafe – to engage with people with thoughts of suicide and help them connect with life-affirming resources.

Topics include:

  • Suicide awareness and prevention
  • Using the TALK method
  • Mental health awareness

Trauma-Informed Care and Practice

Trauma Informed Care and Practice (TICP) is an approach that recognises and acknowledges trauma and its prevalence, alongside awareness and sensitivity to its dynamics, in all aspects of service delivery.

Topics include:

Types of trauma
Recognising the signs of trauma
The impact of trauma
Creating safe and supportive environments

First Aid Courses

Standard Mental Health First Aid Course (2 days)

Equipping adults with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to recognise, understand and respond to a friend, family member, co-worker or another adult experiencing a mental health problem or mental health crisis.

Mental Health First Aid for Adults Supporting Youth (2 days)

Training adults who teach, care for or support young people with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to recognise, understand and respond to a young person experiencing a mental health problem or mental health crisis.

Aboriginal Mental Health First Aid Course (2 days)

Providing adults with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to recognise, understand and respond to an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander adult experiencing a mental health problem or mental health crisis.

Further Education

Community capacity building is a long-term process. If you have any training or education inquiries, contact our team. Let’s work together to improve our community.

Email: wcadsprevention@holyoake.org.au

Need help? We offer a large range of support services that can be delivered both in person and online. Give us a call or email us at clientservices@holyoake.org.au today.

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