Key reading:
SCAN Consensus Project - Substance misusing clients with mental health problems: a brief practitioner's guide for Criminal Justice Integrated Teams.
UK. Home Office, SCAN 2008.
The guide has been designed specifically for staff in Criminal Justice Integrated Teams (CJITs) but it may also be useful to other service providers. Staff in these services see many clients who have both substance misuse and mental health problems (also known as comorbidity or dual diagnosis). While it is not the core role of CJITs to manage or treat the mental health element of a client’s co-occurring mental health problems, it is important to be able to recognise and refer clients with these problems to appropriate care and with the appropriate degree of urgency.
Web: http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/publication-search/dip/
AC_Mental_Health_SCAN_paper
Dual Diagnosis Good Practice Guide 2007
Turning Point, 2007.
This handbook contains practical information designed to help practitioners and those involved in service design to learn from, and apply, good practice in dual diagnosis.
Web: http://www.turning-point.co.uk/Campaigns+and+Policy/Campaigns/
Dual+Diagnosis+Good+Practice+Handbook.htm
Dual diagnosis in mental health inpatient and day hospital settings
UK, Dept of Health, 2006.
This guidance covers the assessment and clinical management of patients with mental illness being cared for in psychiatric inpatient or day care settings who also use or misuse alcohol and/or illicit or other drugs. It also covers organisational and management issues to help mental health services manage these patients effectively.
Web: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/
PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_062649
Dual Diagnosis Tool kit 2004
Rethink, Turning Point, 2004.
Produced in partnership with Turning Point, the UK's leading social care organisation, this toolkit provides background information to the issues surrounding dual diagnosis and offers a practical guide to delivering services. It includes information about substance misuse, mental health and policy background and features current treatment modules along with case studies and exercises for individuals or group work.
Web: http://www.rethink.org/dualdiagnosis/toolkit.html
Mental health policy implementation guide: dual diagnosis good practice guide
UK, Dept of Health, 2002.
The guidance provides a framework within which staff can strengthen services so that they have the skills and organisation to tackle this demanding area of work.
Web: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/
PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4009058
Comorbidity: drug use and mental disorders
Fridell M., Nilson M. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, EMCDDA, 2004.
Between 50% and 90% of drug users are reported to suffer from personality disorders and around one-fifth (15–20%) from more serious psychotic complaints. Yet mental disorders related to addiction are far less recognised than other factors associated with drug use, such as infectious diseases and social problems. This briefing highlights these issues.
Download: Full report (PDF 295KB)
Dual Diagnosis in a primary care group
NTA, Dept of Health, 2002.
This document provides a step-by-step epidemiological needs assessment and design of a training and service response model.
Web: http://www.nta.nhs.uk/publications/documents/
nta_dual_diagnosis_primary_care_group_2002_rs2.pdf (PDF)
Drug misuse and mental health: learning lessons on dual diagnosis
All Party Parliamentary Drugs Misuse Group, 2000.
Report by the All Party Parliamentary Drugs Misuse Group into service provision for dual diagnosis. Includes findings from research, recommendations and views of experts, Government and MPs.
Download: Full report (PDF 53KB)
