In-Home Withdrawal Service expands service locations
Making the decision to stop using alcohol and/or other drugs can significantly improve an individual’s life.
It can improve physical and mental wellbeing, as well as personal relationships. It can reduce risk of permanent damage to vital organs, increase energy, improve sleep quality and help an individual to reconnect with their emotions.
Sonder’s In-Home Withdrawal Service is funded by the Federal Government Department of Health and offers support for people who wish to undergo withdrawal from alcohol and/or drugs within the comfort and familiarity of their own home.
Debby Kadarusman, AOD Service Team Leader explains “In this unique service, clients are guided through a three-step withdrawal process by a skilled team of Senior Coordinators, Registered Nurses, Clinical Workers and Peer Workers. A GP oversees the client’s medical care and support is also provided by a family member or friend of the client.”
“We have been providing support to clients living in Salisbury, Playford, Port Adelaide Enfield and Charles Sturt since 2019. To date, we’ve helped a total of 32 clients to safely withdraw from alcohol and/or drugs, with 67% of them reporting improved ability to manage their substance use and 74% reporting an improvement in their physical health.”
“Today, we are delighted to announce an exciting expansion to our service delivery area which will enable us to help clients living in the areas of Norwood, Payneham, St Peters, Prospect, Unley, Walkerville and West Torrens.”
The service delivery area expansion addresses the need for accelerated access to safe and effective in-home withdrawal. The expansion is a result of welcomed additional funding from SA Health and will see the service helping an additional 90 clients each year.
The In-Home Withdrawal Service is up to 16 weeks in duration, depending on how much pre-care and after-care each client wants or needs. If the client is feeling less prepared, they may be offered counselling before starting the withdrawal process.
During the withdrawal stage, the support team provide daily in-home observation and monitoring, phone counselling as well as peer support from workers with lived experience.
Bonnee Nash, AOD Peer Support Worker explains “the therapeutic value of connecting with Peer Support Workers who share similar experiences and feelings has immense power for on-going recovery. Peer Support Workers can build rapport with clients quicker and easier which helps the clients to fasten their recovery journey.”
Withdrawal (detoxification) alone is not a cure for tolerance and dependence and without follow-up treatment, individuals are likely to relapse and start using alcohol or other drugs again.
Senior AOD Coordinator, Sarah Short explains, “Following withdrawal, the program staff support the client with after-care. This stage is focused on relapse prevention and goal maintenance. During which, our clients are provided with counselling, scheduled GP visits for follow-up health checks, and continued access to peer support.”
How to access the service
Sonder’s In-Home Withdrawal Service is a free program and getting involved is easy.
Clients can be referred into the In-Home Withdrawal Service by calling Sonder on (08) 8209 0700 or by visiting their GP and having them complete a referral form for the service, available from sonder.net.au/in-home-withdrawal-service
To be eligible for the program, individuals must:
- Have low-moderate levels of substance dependence;
- Live in the council areas of Playford, Salisbury, Tea Tree Gully, Port Adelaide Enfield, Adelaide, Burnside, Campbelltown, Charles Sturt, Norwood, Payneham & St Peters, Prospect, Unley, Walkerville or West Torrens and;
- Have a supportive home environment with a support person who will live with them.
For further information, contact Sonder on (08) 8209 0700 or visit sonder.net.au/in-home-withdrawal-service