Housing First Dual Diagnosis Team

We work with any person accessing the Housing First service who is struggling with their:

Mental health or wellbeing, such as:

• anxiety, depression, mood swings, anger
• hearing voices or unusual beliefs
• self-harm or suicidal thoughts
• issues relating to past trauma, abuse, loss or victimisation

and/or

Use of substances, such as:

• alcohol
• street drugs
• prescription drugs

We can offer a range of support and interventions, through one of our pathways:

Consultation and Advice Service

This can be helpful when:

The person has a clear need for a Mental Health/Substance use service: we can advise on which service and how best to access it

The person is already accessing the right Mental Health/Substance use services: we can liaise with other professionals involved and support care planning

The person does not wish to speak with us at the moment but there are concerns about behaviour or risk: we can help the Housing First worker develop behaviour or risk management plans

 

Assessment and Interventions Service

This can be helpful when the person is willing to work with us, and:

The nature or severity of the problem is unclear: we can meet with the person and work with them over time to complete a specialist assessment of Mental health or Substance Misuse. This will then inform a plan of action.

The person is not ready to access other Mental Health/Substance use services: we can offer some time limited sessions to look at specific issues, such as:

• Coping with emotions or symptoms
• Reducing harm from drug or alcohol use
• Taking medication as prescribed
• Dealing with suicidal thoughts or self-harm
• Improving sleep
• Building motivation to make changes

 

Training

For Housing First workers to learn more about Harm Reduction, Trauma Informed approaches and skills for working with people accessing the service.

 

Supervision

For Housing First workers to discuss and reflect on their practice with cases, or to discuss different themes or approaches.

We will be as flexible as possible about how we support people accessing Housing First services. However, as a small team there are some things we cannot do:

Emergency response: In the event of a crisis or emergency please contact urgent care services.

Counselling / trauma treatment: If someone was ready, willing and able to engage in therapy then we would help them to access this.

Diagnosis / prescribed treatment: This would normally require a medical practitioner, again we would help someone to access this.

Care co-ordination: This would be provided by a statutory service and we would not replace the need for this.

Open ended work: We will try repeatedly to engage the person in direct work, but if this is not successful after two months we will close the case and they can be re-referred at any time.

Housing First workers can refer anyone they are working with by completing the Referral Form, and emailing housingfirst@gmmh.nhs.uk

It is important to obtain consent from the person concerned to make the referral, even if the person does not wish to speak to us directly.

We expect to triage the referral within two working days. This can involve contacting the referrer and/or the person referred, to discuss the issues and better understand the situation.