We are happy for you to use these materials free of charge subject to our terms of use which can be found here.
Many of the materials are provided by 3rd parties, so you will have to ensure compliance with 3rd party terms and conditions as well.
Articles & Reports
These are articles or links to articles from newspapers, contributors or academic research within Ireland.
Irish Government/Agency reports
Funded by the HSE, Dual Diagnosis, a Community perspective reports the experiences of the Finglas Cabra community with practical suggestions to solve the issue of Dual Diagnosis. Click here.
A Health Research Board research report on Treatment services for people with co-occurring substance use and mental health problems which identified the barriers to treatment and recommends changes. Click here
An important 2004 report on the issue of Dual Diagnosis in Ireland, commissioned by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, can be found by clicking on this link.
See also the “Vision for Change” report on Mental Health services in Ireland at this link.
“No Wrong Door”
A call for integration of addiction and mental health services. No wrong Door Proposal Tipperary
Controller and Auditor General report
In June 2009, the Controller and Auditor General completed a value for money review on treatment services for illegal drug addiction. This points to a lack of assessment of treatment planning & outcomes with data not being collected correctly.The lack of good measurement data means clients with dual diagnosis who are not getting the right treatment are not being identified. Specific recommendations made include
- “Improving the accuracy and coverage of the NDTRS(information system) needs to be addressed so that better estimation of the size of waiting lists can occur, delays in access to treatment can be recognised, progression between forms of treatment tracked, treatment drop-out rates monitored and outcomes and treatment effectiveness evaluated.
- The delivery of care planning needs to be managed on the basis of clear performance targets for care planning, with regular monitoring and reporting of achievement.
- Targets should be set in relation to the expected outcomes of treatment and rehabilitation service
- The national framework for care planning and management needs to be developed by the HSE.”
The full report can be found on the CAG website here
Mental Health Assessment Tools
A useful portfolio of Mental Health Assessment Tools has been developed by the Laois Offaly Longford Westmeath Mental Health working group for use by professional members of multi disciplinary teams in mental health practice. The portfolio includes Mental Health Symptom Screening Tools, Becks Tools, Self-Evaluation Screening Tools, Medication Effect Screening Tools, Addiction Screening Tools, Living Skills Screening Tools & Stress vulnerability framework The full report can be found here.
Other reports & articles
Our November 2019 submission to Minster Simon Harris.
You can see the full report here
A really useful report with practical recommendations to solve the Dual Diagnosis issue, from a community service in England. Turning Point Dual Diagnosis recommendations,
Our submission on The case for an independent regulator July 2016 to the Department of Health
Our National Substance Misuse strategy submission May 2016 to the Department of health. Calls for a “no wrong door ” approach to mental health and substance misuse.
Our DEPR submission September 2014 to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on how solving the dual diagnosis problem will improve clinical outcomes and reduce costs.
Our NOSP submission June 2014 to the National Office for Suicide Prevention on addiction and mental services response to people with a dual diagnosis.
The Soilse 2014 report. This is a very substantial research based report which does not mention dual diagnosis but makes broad ranging recommendations that addiction services need to focus on helping individuals recover their well being in a way that respects their wishes and dignity
Dual diagnosis: evolving policy and practice within the Irish healthcare system, co authored with Liam Mc Gabhann of DCU. Originally published in “Advances in Dual Diagnosis” Aug 2010. For copyright reasons we can only email this to you. Please contact us at info@dualdiagnosis.ie.
We would like to thank Declan Byrne for contributing two documents (below) he has written, which we hope will be interesting and informative to those concerned about Dual Diagnosis in Ireland:
Dual diagnosis Proposals for the Dublin North East Drugs Task Force
Learning from the American Experience
Using Care Plans in the mental health services.
The Mental Health Commission has published a quality framework for use in all mental health services, be they hospital, health centre or even the service user’s home. A key part of this framework is that every client should have a care plan. A care plan is basically a comprehensive road map which has been agreed with the client in order to help the client recover. Legally every client in the mental health services is entitled to a care plan which should be drawn up in consultation with all the professionals providing care. A prescription for medication is not a care plan.
You can see examples of a completed care plan on the mental health commissions website Completed care plan Go to appendix 2, page 31
A number of hospitals have also provided samples of their care plans on Hospital care plans
Unfortunately there are no examples from community based services at present on the website.
So if your client does not currently have a care plan, and they are not satisfied with the service they are receiving, writing to the mental health service to request a case conference of all relevant service providers to prepare a care plan can help improve the service to your client.
Reports from Dual Diagnosis Events
Participant Feedback Report January 2010 on