Mental Health and Addiction

Working in Partnership

This project is jointly funded by the Mental Health Commission and the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand (ALAC).  The Mental Health Commission and ALAC have formed a strategic partnership underpinned by a memorandum of understanding.

The goal of the partnership is to collborate in order to provide leadership and guidance to the mental health and addiction sector in order to make a positive difference to all people in need of support for mental health problems and/or addiction.

Previous achievements of the partnership include providing support for the establishment of the National Committee for Addiction Treatment (NCAT) formed in July 2005 and the establishment of quarterly Addiction Treatment Leadership Days. The aim of both these initiatives is to develop the addiction treatment sector at both strategic and service-provision levels.

The current focus of the project is the preparation of a report on the barriers that prevent the delivery of integrated treatment and care for people with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.  The aim of the report is to facilitate constructive discussion across the mental health and addiction sectors about how best to provide integrated treatment for people with co-existing disorders and to build commitment for change across both sectors.