Engaging primary health care workers in drug and alcohol and mental health interventions: challenges for service delivery in rural and remote Australia

Abstract

Access to drug and alcohol treatment services is a particularly salient issue for Australia. The nation is paying considerable attention to risky drug and alcohol use. Indigenous Australians are particularly concerned about drug and alcohol related harms in their communities. Access to treatment is the most effective way of reducing drug related harm for disadvantaged populations. Primary health care is the optimal site for delivering drug and alcohol treatment. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 47 primary health care, drug and alcohol and other health and welfare workers in rural and remote locations were conducted. Thematic analysis of interview data identified divergent perspectives according to a participant’s work role about drug and alcohol treatment, client needs and problems and service delivery approaches. Primary health care workers were conceptualised as locals. They tended to perceive that drug and alcohol interventions should quickly prevent individuals from on-going problematic use. Drug and alcohol workers were conceptualised as insiders. Most did not have knowledge or experience of the primary health care setting. Therefore they could not assist primary health care workers to integrate drug and alcohol interventions into their interactions with clients. Professional and organisational barriers constrain the primary health care worker role and limit the application of specialist interventions. Drug and alcohol work is only one of many competing demands in the primary health setting. The lack of understanding of the primary health care worker role and responsibilities is the most significant barrier to implementing specialist interventions in this role. Primary health care workers’ perceptions of substance misuse are more consistent with the individual moral or personal deficit philosophy of drug and alcohol treatment than harm minimisation approaches. This is a challenge for a specialist agency that is promoting harm minimisation and an adaptive approach to treatment within the primary care setting. Building the capacity of primary health care workers to do more varied tasks requires a good understanding of the pragmatic and practical realities of their day to day practice and the philosophies that underpin these.