Subiaco-based St John of God Drug and Alcohol Withdrawal Network (DAWN) is celebrating 20 years of service provision.
Operated by St John of God Health Care and fully funded by the WA Mental Health Commission, DAWN’s team of clinical nurse specialists assist people to stop or reduce their substance use safely by providing planned care and support at home.
Services are provided free of charge to clients of all ages from all walks of life who have problematic relationships with a range of different substances though according to Manager, Ann Annetts, alcohol remains the most common.
“When the service first opened in March 2001, we were seeing a lot of clients who were battling heroin addiction but today, the most common substance we deal with after alcohol is methamphetamines,” Ann Annetts said.
“Almost without exception, substance use is a symptom of something more that a person is dealing with.
“Connecting clients to counselling and other support services is an important part of our role and helps position them for long-term success,” Ms Annetts said.
DAWN accepts self-referrals as well as GP referrals and supports GPs with a range of resources whilst working in partnership with them to ensure continuity of care.
“We help connect people to other providers when our service isn’t right for them and do our best to make sure that no one slips between the cracks,” Ann said.
One of the benefits of undertaking a home-based withdrawal is learning to manage triggers from the outset.
It also allows people to stay in the place where they feel most comfortable and avoids family members being separated, which is particularly significant for people with young children.
“DAWN aims to remove some of the barriers that can prevent people from proceeding with a planned, medically supervised withdrawal,” Ms Annetts said.
“It takes an awful lot of courage to reach out for help and we don’t want to miss the opportunity to help someone when they’ve taken that first, big step.
“Tackling a substance dependency is not easy, and people who struggle with problematic substance use are usually also struggling with a lot of shame over their addiction, in addition to living with the trauma that contributed to them becoming dependent on the substance in the first place.
“We are extremely proud to have been delivering this service which our clients credit with changing and, in many cases, saving, their lives for two decades now.”