Alcohol and Mental Health Comorbidity National Initiative
23rd February 2004
By: ADGP

ADGP has successfully attracted a $2 million grant over two years from the Alcohol Education Rehabilitation Foundation for a national project to strengthen the level of care to people experiencing co-morbid alcohol and mental health problems.  

Partners in the project are the Mental Health Council of Australia, the Australian Government Departments of Health and Ageing and Veterans Affairs, and the Primary Mental Health Care Australian Resource Centre based at the Department of General Practice, Flinders University.  

ADGP is committed to ensuring the majority of the funding goes directly to supporting local Divisional activity. To this end, we envisage implementing the following:  

• Information and self-help resources for GPs, practices and consumers/carers for use in waiting rooms and consultations;
• A skills training program for GPs in the management and prevention of comorbidity rolled out through Divisions and with support of SBOs;
• and Funding to individual Divisions or clusters of Divisions interested in pursuing additional activities such as putting in place local collaborative care and strengthened referral pathways arrangements with local health and other providers.       

Divisions will be contacted in the near future with more implementation and participation details.