Families and Communities 'Living Well'

As people listen to others and begin to tell their story in CADS family and friends support groups, the most common statement is  "I thought I was the only one" Sadly, only a proportion of families experiencing addiction issues gain access to specialist treatment services.

Often when this happens the focus is usually on the individual presenting with the alcohol and drug issue rather than the wellbeing of the whole family and whanau. “A part of the enormous social cost of alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse, alcohol and other drug issues impact significantly on New Zealand families, friendships and communities,” says Trish Gledhill, Director, Kina Families and Addictions Trust. 

“The need to address these issues requires little argument.” With the support of ALAC, the Mental Health Commission and the JR McKenzie Trust, Kina has recently produced Living Well – a resource to promote the health and wellbeing of families and friends of people affected by a loved one’s alcohol and other drug use.

Living Well is a framework utilising the Stress Coping Model, a primary health model developed by Alex Copello and colleagues in the United Kingdom. The approach has demonstrated how the effects of stress and the increased rates of psychological and physical symptoms experienced by people with family alcohol and drug issues can be mitigated towards healthier outcomes (Copello, A., Orford, J., Velleman, R., Templeton, L., & Krishnan, M; 2000). Living Well has been designed to be applicable to a New Zealand context in reflecting the diversity of our families. 

It incorporates family resilience concepts, aimed to instil realistic hope for people while they explore their various coping strategies in response to these issues. While the resource has been designed to ‘stand alone’ for individuals to use, it is ideally introduced in a setting that is conducive to family inclusive practice in addressing alcohol and drug issues, and by a worker who understands the model and can support its delivery with a consistent approach. 

Therefore, to ensure the most effective utilisation of the resource and the most benefit to families, training and support in the application of the model will be provided to key staff such as practice nurses.

Living Well can be used on its own, as the basis for working one to one with family, and also in group situations. 

Living Well employs the Stress Copying Model by simply modeling the process and guiding AOD clinicians and family members to identify current coping strategies and to utilise those that are most likely to support their own health and wellbeing.

“This resource has been enthusiastically received in the sector with several requests for copies to assist with service delivery,” says Trish. Community Alcohol and Drug Services (CADS) provides services in Auckland for those concerned about their own or someone else’s use of Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) and has been using Living Well.

“Through providing a simple and effective framework, the Stress Coping Model, demonstrated in Living Well has been found to be a lovely way of working with affected others in these settings,” says Suzy Morrison, Family Services Coordinator, CADS Auckland.  

“It can also reduce any fears voiced by AOD clinicians that they need to be a family therapist to work with families.” “The resource is gaining popularity with both clinicians and family members and is in high demand as part of CADS service delivery,” say Suzy.

Kina Trust’s objective is to see Living Well accessed by people through different ways across the AOD sector and the wider community. “The next Kina project is aimed at the promoting effective utilisation of Living Well in a number of accessible community and primary health settings,” says Trish from Kina Trust.

Copies of Living Well may be obtained from Kina Trust. To contact Kina Trust visit their website on www.kinatrust.org.nz or email info@kinatrust.org.nz