Alcohol and other Drugs

The purpose of the BASW Special Interest Group (SIG) in Alcohol and other Drugs is:

“To support social work and social care responses to people who use alcohol and drugs”.

1. To achieve this purpose four key areas comprise the group’s focus:
To influence strategy at national and local levels in the following areas:
a. Drug and alcohol policy
b. Education of social workers
c. Social work/service led organisations e.g. Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and Association of Directors for Children’s Services (ADCS)

2. To ensure individuals and organisations involved in the areas named above take responsibility for their contribution to improving social work education and practice in relation to alcohol and drug interventions

3. To provide information and resources for social workers

4. To facilitate networking opportunities and information exchange.

Call for members to join steering group

BASW Special Interest Group in Alcohol and other Drugs is seeking new members to join its steering group.

Applications are sought from managers and practitioners in all areas of social work practice and all nations of the UK.

The Special Interest Group (SIG) supports and informs BASW’s policy and strategic developments in relation to alcohol and other drugs (AOD) in social work education and practice. It also drives BASW’s development and dissemination of AOD resources.

Specialist knowledge of alcohol or drug use is not an essential requirement but an interest in substance use, and its relationship to your specialist area of practice, is. Steering group members will be expected to be active members of the group, attending meetings, contributing to the development of resources, reading and commenting on SIG outputs and occasionally taking the lead on resource development or event planning.

The SIG meets every 10-12 weeks at BASW HQ in Birmingham for 2.5 hrs.

For more information on the SIG go to the BASW website on http://www.basw.co.uk/special-interest-groups/alcohol-and-other-drugs/

BASW members will have travel expenses reimbursed. If you would like to join the steering group or for an informal discussion, please contact Wulf Livingstonon w.livingston@glyndwr.ac.uk or 01978 293471.

To join the mailing list for SIG resources and events contact Jasbir Kaur on reception@basw.co.uk

Structure

The SIG comprises a steering group drawing people from both social work and substance use backgrounds and from practice, policy and academia. It meets four times a year to decide the programme of events, resource development, strategic initiatives and other tasks for the group.

The current Chair of the SIG is Sarah Galvani of the Tilda Goldberg Centre for Social Work and Social Care at the University of Bedfordshire (sarah.galvani@beds.ac.uk). The main BASW representative is Nushra Mansuri (n.mansuri@basw.co.uk).

Testimony

“You raise very important issues that are critical to the education and training of social workers in their day to day job with adults and children and families. We believe that issues of drug and alcohol dependency and abuse is a critical factor in social work intervention that crosses many areas necessitating its generic nature and need to be part of core training.”

Graham Ixer
Head of Social Work Education
General Social Care Council

Publications

The SIG has launched its first Pocket Guide for Social Workers on the subject of Alcohol and Other Drugs. It provides essential information on assessment and intervention of people with substance problems as well as useful links and practical do’s and dont’s.

Download the guide.

For hard copies contact BASW on 0121 622 3911.

The SIG would very much welcome your feedback on this first edition. Please complete the very brief online evaluation form at the following link: Survey form. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Events

The group runs at least two free events each year and holds a mailing list for this purpose. If you would like to be added to the mailing list please contact Shirley Konstandis at s.konstandis@basw.co.uk.

Information about events, resources and other work of the SIG will be posted on this page.

Taking a closer look at alcohol and drug ‘treatment’ event slides

Annual Report

The Annual Report for 2010 is available to download.