Drug and Alcohol Assertive Outreach
Drug and Alcohol Assertive Outreach is part of the wider HORIZON Project for Blackpool.
The motivation of drug and alcohol clients fluctuates, resulting in missed appointments and reduced client outcomes. The drug and alcohol assertive outreach service will significantly improve re-engagement of clients dropping out treatment services, and will assist in the engagement of those most at risk of acute illness and early death, such as chaotic users and the homeless.
Although the assertive outreach service has this dual remit, to re-engage as well as to engage treatment naïve, it is intended that the bulk of the project work is to re-engage clients.
Assertive outreach service will work with clients in a variety of settings to ensure maximum engagement and re-engagement with drug and alcohol treatment services.
How do we do this
The Assertive Outreach Service offer:
- A flexible and creative approach to contacting and working with all clients who have dropped out of treatment services
- They aim to re-establish contact with clients who have a history of erratic or non-engagement with services or a history of erratic or non-compliance with treatment, or who have dropped out of treatment; and provide advice, support and guidance including the use of motivational interviewing techniques to encourage re-engagement with services
- They aim to successfully engage clients who have disengaged by assessing and provide interventions to clients.
- They also encourage dependent drug and alcohol users who are not known to services to access appropriate substance misuse treatment and main stream services
- Outreach work with acute and mental health hospital staff to transfer drug and alcohol related hospital admission patients into Horizon.
- The team support Alcohol Liaison Nurse Service at BVH to link drug and alcohol clients into community services
- They also offer “in reach” to hospital wards to form bridge between hospital and community services
- The team offer assertive outreach to street drinkers, providing support and advice and seek to engage street drinkers in treatment services. Collate data in relation to where street drinkers procure their alcohol to advise the public health licensing objectives.
- and provide outreach service to clients who have been discharged from hospital and not presented for substance misuse treatment.
You can contact the Assertive Outreach Team on 01253 311431 or for a direct referral into Drug &/or Alcohol Treatment and Support, call 01253 205157 or email hello@horizonblackpool.uk
