Many clients in treatment have concerns around memory, thinking, executive function, and emotional regulation. In a Tasmanian-first, the ACE Program will provide interventions, screening, and ‘cognitive hacks’ to help clients complete treatment and achieve their treatment goals.
Participants from treatment organisations across the state including Launceston City Mission, The Salvation Army, Holyoake, Velocity Transformations (Pathways), and Alcohol and Drug Services, are all coming together on a journey to support Tasmanians who use alcohol and other drugs through the implementation of evidence-based cognitive enhancement strategies.
Funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health, Alcohol & Drug Services, and the ATDC, the ACE pilot project is set to have its first round of training this month.
This first training takes a ‘whole of organisation’ approach to cognitive remediation practice, looking to inform all levels of the organisation on their role in embedding the practices recommended by the ACE project. This is seen as essential to creating sustainable practice change at the organisational level, which will in turn embed state-wide practices that improve the client journey.
In the coming months, we will be conducting a multitude of training events covering planning, brief interventions, cognitive screening and assessment, and group-based cognitive enhancement interventions, along with a regular Community of Practice, drawing not only on the expertise of Dr. Jamie Berry and Jo Lunn, but also the expert knowledge of our own sector.
I want to thank everybody involved who have been so flexible in the face of COVID-19, and to commend you for remaining committed to innovation and continuous learning in the face of these service disruptions.
As always, if you have any questions about this project or any of the sector capacity-building activities conducted by the ATDC you can contact me via email at dan@atdc.org.au.
Dan Vautin
Sector Development Manager
