Find helpOur services
Alcohol Practice Guidelines for the Department of Veterans' Affairs
These guidelines contain core recommendations to assist health and welfare practitioners to make informed decisions about effectively preventing, identifying and managing the alcohol-related problems of veterans. They were funded by the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) and developed by the Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health (ACPMH) together with expert leaders supported by working groups in each state.
Purpose of the Guidelines
The guidelines aim to support practitioners in doing their part to more effectively address the needs of veterans with alcohol problems. However, the guidelines alone do not represent a comprehensive description of the treatment of alcohol problems that would allow a practitioner to attain competence. Instead, a close relationship exists between these practitioner guidelines and The Right Mix: Your Health and Alcohol program, which encompasses screening, brief interventions and health promotion resources, available from http://www.therightmix.gov.au.
Development of the DVA alcohol practice guidelines
ACPMH managed the development of five practice guidelines through contracting with guideline leaders, one in each mainland State. Each leader produced a guideline according to an agreed format that addressed the needs of Australian veterans.
| Guideline | Leader | State |
|---|---|---|
| Screening and assessment | Associate Professor John Pead | Victoria |
| Problem drinking | Dr Sitharthan Thiagarajan | New South Wales |
| Alcohol withdrawal | Professor John Saunders | Queensland |
| Relapse prevention | Associate Professor Steve Allsop | Western Australia |
| PTSD and alcohol problems | Professor John Condon | South Australia |
Each guideline working group leader was selected for their recognised expertise in the area and independence from DVA, and was supported by a state-based working group comprising multidisciplinary representation from DVA, VVCS - Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service, private practice and hospital-based providers and veterans. This group met and corresponded in considering drafts prepared by the leader. While a consensus was sought on the recommendations, final responsibility for the guideline content rests with ACPMH.
Expert review
Structured review of each guideline was undertaken by at least two independent assessors expert in the content area of each guideline. Expert reviewers included NDARC, Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, and ACPMH.
Other relevant guidelines
These guidelines are consistent with the National Health and Medical Research Council's (NHMRC) Australian Alcohol Guidelines: Health Risks and Benefits (2001) and the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) Guidelines for the Treatment of Alcohol Problems (2003), but differ in emphasis. The DVA alcohol practice guidelines are targeted towards veterans and are industry specific, coming about as a result of a representative and state-based process involving the full range of professionals and veterans associated with DVA-funded services. The NHMRC and NDARC guidelines were designed to have relevance for the whole Australian population, while the DVA guidelines are specific to veterans' health and welfare needs and services