Support and case management

Support includes activities such as providing emotional support to a client who occasionally calls an agency worker. Case management is usually more structured than support; it can assume a more holistic approach, taking into account all client needs (including general welfare needs) and it encompasses assessment, planning, linking, monitoring and advocacy (Vanderplaschen et al. 2007).

In 2019–20,

  • around 1 in 6 (16% or 38,050) treatment episodes reported a main treatment type of support and case management.
  • over 1 in 7 (14%) clients received support and case management as the main treatment for their own alcohol or drug use and over one-third (34%) of treatment episodes were for clients who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use 
  • most support and case management treatment episodes for a client’s own alcohol or drug use in 2019–20 were for clients whose principal drug of concern was alcohol (31%), amphetamines (28%) or cannabis (21%) (tables ST.4, ST.52).

Client profile

In 2019–20, for clients whose main treatment was support and case management:

  • for clients seeking treatment for their own alcohol or drug use, 3 in 5 (60%) clients were male, over half (52%) were aged 20–39, and 17% identified as Indigenous Australians
  • for clients seeking treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use, over half (56%) were male, 53% were for clients aged 20–39, and 15% identified as Indigenous Australians (Tables SC.15–17).

Treatment profile

Among support and case management treatment episodes for clients’ own alcohol or drug use and someone else’s alcohol or drug use:

  • the proportion of episodes lasting 1 day was higher for clients receiving treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use (43%) than for their own alcohol or drug use (15%) 

  • 3 in 5 (59%) treatment episodes for support and case management lasted between 2 days to 3 months (ST.16).

Over the 10-year period to 2019–20:

  • treatment episodes lasting 1 day for clients seeking treatment for their own alcohol or drug use rose from 8% in 2010–11 to 43% in 2015–16, before declining to 15% in 2019–20 
  • the proportion of treatment episodes for someone else’s alcohol or drug use that lasted 1 day rose from 2010–11 (39%) to 2018–19 (87%) before falling in 2019–20 (43%). Conversely, episodes lasting from 2 days up to 3 months decreased from 2010–11 (49%) to 2018–19 (10%) before rising in 2019–20 (47%) (Table ST.54).

References

See reference list