Problematic substance use in two mental health NGOs, and staff, client and general public attitudes towards problematic substance use amongst people with mental illness

Abstract

A significant proportion of people with mental illness are thought to have co-occurring problematic substance use but there is little published information available and that which is published can be contradictory and vary according to a number of factors. Additionally, the stigma surrounding co-occurrence is little understood and an exploration of attitudes would benefit mental health service design and delivery. The study aimed to measure the rates of concurrent problematic substance use in community-based health services and to compare attitudes of staff, clients and the public towards people with this population. Create an exploratory model of attitudes. Surveys distributed to staff and clients of two mental health non-government organisations (NGOs) and to a comparison sample of members of the general public. Eighty-two staff, 333 clients and 545 members of the public were surveyed. Rates of alcohol and substance use amongst service clients were similar to levels previously reported of 25% and 39%, ...