Over 50's Substance Use Worker

**Background to Service**:
Cardiff and Vale Drug and Alcohol Service (CAVDAS) is an Alliance of Barod, Recovery Cymru and Kaleidoscope Project with strategic partners G4S and Pobl. CAVDAS Alliance has been commissioned by the Cardiff and Vale Substance Misuse Area Planning board. CAVDAS services will deliver specialist support and interventions across Youth Justice Services, Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) Cardiff Council Housing Services, Counselling, Recovery and Aftercare, Volunteering and Service User Involvement, Rapid Access Prescribing (RAPS), structured interventions, peer support and mutual aid, Harm Reduction and Work Force Development. CAVDAS will deliver an integrated young person’s, adults and family and carer information, advice, interventions, and support service. CAVDAS will work across Cardiff and Vale Health and Social Care partners, and forums to co-produce services delivering outcomes in the way that people want. We are looking to build a new culture providing one system for Cardiff and Vale and a unified, innovative and flexible delivery model.

**Purpose of the role**:
This role will act as a lead response for service users accessing CAVDAS who are aged 50 years and over. The role will provide a harm reduction, case management and specialist intervention function across the CAVDAS services model. The role will contribute to structured community rehab timetabled approaches while supporting flexible and responsive peer led and innovative responses to substance use throughout the region.

The successful applicant will deliver services in line with Welsh Government Treatment Frameworks, NICE guidance (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence), and other relevant professional standards and legislation. CAVDAS staff are expected to follow Operational Policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), ensuring that the care and treatment provided is safe, undertaken to a high standard and informed by up-to-date, evidence-based practice.

The post holder should enjoy face-to-face contact with people who have recognised that their use of substances has become problematic. They will have excellent communication skills, be able to work as part of a multidisciplinary team, across agency cultures including those within statutory, private and voluntary sector partnerships. The post holder must be flexible and efficient within small locality teams, to ensure services are delivered equitably and with the service user at the heart of delivery.

They will have a non-judgmental approach to people who have recognised that their use has become problematic and be able to provide a welcoming and accessible service to existing and potential service users.

Individual supervision will be provided in line with Alliance partner organisational policy. Additional clinical support will be provided via peer supervision and review groups. Specific training will be available for the development of service provision in line with Continued Professional Development.

**Key Duties and Responsibilities**
- **Raising awareness and changing attitudes** about substance use in people over 50, influencing community norms about the use of alcohol
- **Increasing individual and community resilience** in people over 50, reducing substance use related harm in this age group
- **Helping community service providers and employers** to recognise and respond to risky substance use in people over 50
- Work in a flexible and responsive manner across locations, dependent on need, to help provide a smooth and continuous service.
- Engage substance users through provision of initial assessment, brief interventions, and structured interventions to respond to an individual’s personalised treatment goals and reduce harm.
- Provide comprehensive assessment and care coordination to ensure service users receive integrated care-planned treatment appropriate to their level of need and readiness to change. This will include the use of, but is not limited to:
Ø Creative care planning that target life domains: drug and alcohol use, relationships, family, housing, employment, leisure / social / recreation, criminal behaviour and health.

Ø Screening tools such as Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).

Ø Culturally sensitive assessment tools such as AXIS All Area Toolkit.

Ø Specialised Assessments such as the WIISMAT (Welsh Integrated In-depth Substance Misuse Assessment Tool).

Ø Recognition and assessment of diagnostic criteria and psychosocial functioning (DSM V, ICD-10, Alcohol Dependence Syndrome).

Ø Delivery of therapeutic and/or psychosocial interventions including motivational interviewing, International Treatment Effectiveness Programme (ITEP), Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA), Social Behaviour Network Therapy (SBNT), Structured Relapse Prevention.

Ø Outcome and Session Rating Scales and Treatment Outcome Profiles.
- To provide service users with a wide range of activities and access to social/recreational enhanceme