About these guidelines

Key Points

• The purpose of these Guidelines is to provide AOD workers with up-to-date, evidence-based information on the management of co-occurring mental health conditions in AOD treatment settings.
• All AOD workers should be ‘comorbidity informed’ – that is, knowledgeable about the symptoms of the common mental health conditions that clients present with and how to manage these symptoms.
• The Guidelines are not a policy directive and are not intended to replace or take precedence over local policies and procedures.
• The Guidelines should be used in conjunction with existing guidelines and discipline-specific practice standards.
• The Guidelines do not provide formal recommendations, but rather guidance for AOD workers when working with clients who have co-occurring mental health conditions.
• The Guidelines are based on the best available evidence at the time of writing and draw upon the experience and knowledge of clinicians, researchers, consumers, and carers.