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Drug Issues (POPH90171)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Online
Please refer to the return to campus page for more information on these delivery modes and students who can enrol in each mode based on their location.
About this subject
Contact information
Semester 2
Overview
| Availability | Semester 2 - Online |
|---|---|
| Fees | Look up fees |
This subject enables students to build a framework for analysing and responding to the complex issues pertaining to young people and drug use. This involves the examination of prevalence rates and current trends in drug use among adolescents in the contemporary Australian context and an analysis of the dominant perspectives that influence policy makers, treatment providers, media outlets, families and young people themselves. Students will draw on a diversity of theoretical frameworks and current research to tease out the key determinants of adolescent drug use and develop the skills to define and identify hazardous or problematic drug use. Finally, students will explore a range of effective responses in the fields of prevention, health promotion and treatment that can be utilised to assist young people to avoid harm and initiate and maintain change (eg. harm minimisation, net harm analysis, stages of change and relapse prevention models and motivational interviewing).
Intended learning outcomes
This subject is designed to enable students to:
- identify and critically reflect on the factors which impact on or influence drug and alcohol use;
- articulate and critically examine their own understanding of their professional practice in working with young people with drug and/or alcohol issues;
- evaluate and apply different theoretical frameworks, research perspectives and professional practice strategies to inform decision making in working with young people with drug and alcohol issues;
- evaluate and apply different intervention approaches including health promotion, prevention, early intervention and treatment regarded as effective in working with young people;
- analyse and apply harm minimisation frameworks.
Generic skills
This subject is designed to enable students to:
- identify and critically reflect on the factors which impact on or influence drug and alcohol use;
- articulate and critically examine their own understanding of their professional practice in working with young people with drug and/or alcohol issues;
- evaluate and apply different theoretical frameworks, research perspectives and professional practice strategies to inform decision making in working with young people with drug and alcohol issues;
- evaluate and apply different intervention approaches including health promotion, prevention, early intervention and treatment regarded as effective in working with young people;
- analyse and apply harm minimisation frameworks.
On completion of this subject it is expected that students will be able to:
- work in a respectful way with young people that are using drugs and/or alcohol;
- locate, critically evaluate and use contemporary research literature and professional information to develop their own practice;
- communicate effectively with young people, families, agencies and other professionals across a range of contexts about drug and alcohol issues;
- apply a range of skills suitable for use by non-specialist drug workers to intervene with young people with problematic patterns of drug use.
Last updated: 3 November 2022