The Australian Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) workforce comprises a highly diverse range of healthcare professionals. We focused on harm reduction, peer work, social work, pharmacy, occupational therapy, psychology, nursing and nurse practitioners. Since medical doctors and AOD roles without specific credentials have already been covered in the literature, this review summarises on the other direct patient facing roles in the AOD multidisciplinary team. The findings of this review show that previous non-specific roles such as peer and harm reduction workers are developing into their distinct disciplines with their own specific training. Experienced clinicians in their field such as nurse practitioners and senior pharmacists are given increasingly more scope of practice that aligns with medical practitioners. However, there is still limited research to some established disciplines such as the role occupational therapy and social work.
Exploring the individual multidisciplinary team roles in AOD
Xuan Ye | Junior Doctor and Researcher, Monash University Monash
Xuan Ye is a researcher at Monash University. He is also a Junior Doctor at Cairns Hospital in Far North Queensland. Xuan has spent most of his medical school in rural Victoria and is actively working to advance the AOD service capability for rural communities.
Credited Persons
Robert Lundin | Consultant Psychiatrist in Alcohol and Other Drugs, Academic Regional and Rural Addictions Network, Barwon Health, Deakin University
Leighlan Phillips | Nurse Practitioner in Alcohol and Other Drugs, Mildura Base Public Hospital