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Building the capacity to understand and address alcohol and drug use, mental health challenges and suicide through preventative training and education initiatives in 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

 

Training 

Alcohol and Other Drug Training

The Wheatbelt Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Coordinator (AOD PC) organises and facilitates the following training programs:

 

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

Providing 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 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 Child-Bearing Years (2 days)

This ‘FASD Prevention in Communities’ training is facilitated by the Mental Health Commission and covers:

  • 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 training is recommended for stakeholders (including people from government and non-government agencies) working with women and men in their childbearing years. It’s a great program for counsellors, health promotion officers, peer support workers, midwives and child health nurses.

 

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

This training is facilitated by the Mental Health Commission and covers:

  • 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.

 

  • 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 PC has undergone training through the Australian Drug Foundation to deliver training in local sporting clubs.

 

  • Custom training programs

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

  • alcohol and other drug literacy
  • AOD harm reduction and implementing it in your organisation/community
  • responding to 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. The workshop covers a wide range of topics, from understanding suicidal and self-harm warning signs and risk assessments to intervention strategies, intervention guidelines and 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.

  • 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 the confidence, strategies and pathways to support that help people preserve their mental health and the mental health of their family and friends. It covers a range of topics, from stigma, mental health risks and anxiety/depression to relationships, dementia, suicide and 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 in choosing 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.

 

We also offer Mental Health First Aid courses (dependent on funding):

  • 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.

 

Combined mental health and wellbeing and alcohol and other drug training

  • 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.

 

Education

  • Alcohol and other drugs education

The Wheatbelt Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Coordinator facilitates a range of educational presentations and workshops on the following topics:

  • Alcohol and Other Drug Literacy
  • Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
  • Alcohol/Cannabis and the Developing Brain
  • The Interaction Between Alcohol and Prescription Medications
  • AOD Prevention in Sporting Clubs

 

Please contact us if you have any training or education requests and we can work together to create a presentation to address your needs. Email: wcadsprevention@holyoake.org.au

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