Healing at Home: Developing a Model for Ambulatory Alcohol "Detox" in an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service

Authors

Jonathan Brett, University of Sydney
Angela Dawson, University of TechnologyFollow
Rowena G. Ivers, University of WollongongFollow
Leanne Lawrence, Ilawarra Aboriginal Medical Service
Sarah Barclay, Ilawarra Aboriginal Medical Service
Kate M. Conigrave, University of SydneyFollow

RIS ID

114936

Publication Details

Brett, J., Dawson, A., Ivers, R., Lawrence, L., Barclay, S. & Conigrave, K. (2017). Healing at Home: Developing a Model for Ambulatory Alcohol "Detox" in an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service. International Journal of Indigenous Health, 12 (1), 24-38.

Abstract

Indigenous Peoples who have been colonized typically face a greater burden of injury, disease, and social disruption associated with alcohol use (Kirmayer, Brass, & Tait, 2000). However, they often also encounter many barriers to accessing treatment for alcohol use disorders (Gray, Stearne, Wilson, & Doyle, 2010). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (here described as Aboriginal Australians) experience 3-8 times the prevalence of alcohol-related illness, injury, and death than the general population (Calabria, Doran, Vos, Shakeshaft, & Hall, 2010). But their barriers to treatment access for alcohol dependence include transport difficulties, fear of discrimination, and lack of culturally secure services (Brett et al., 2016; Conigrave et al., 2012; Gray, Stearne, et al., 2010; Teasdale et al., 2008).