Cluster 4: Written Assignment

This assignment will contribute to your final result for the following three (3) units:
 CHCMHS005 – Provide services to people with co-existing mental health and
alcohol and other drugs issues
 CHCMHS011 – Assess and promote social, emotional and physical wellbeing
 CHCAOD001 – Work in an alcohol and other drugs context

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Before completing and submitting this

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assignment, have you:

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☐ Accessed the learning resources in Step 1?
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What you have to do
In this assignment, you are required to complete two (2) tasks:
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Task 1 – Research and report on AOD issues and responses for a target group. You
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
need to choose one (1) target group from the list and answer the four (4) questions
that follow about this group.
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 Task 2 – Read the case study provided and answer the eight (8) questions that
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follow.

How you will be assessed

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These units are competency based. In order to be deemed competent in these units you
must satisfy all elements specific to the units and the essential knowledge and critical
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aspects of assessment in a range of situations. The assessment has been developed to

cover these criteria and your OTEN teacher will review all your work and assess your overall
result to deem you competent.
Please reference your work. Referencing guides are available in the Guidelines and
information area on the OLS.

Task 1
Research and report on AOD issues and responses for a target group.
For this task you need to choose one (1) target group from the list below and answer the four
(4) questions that follow about this group. Your answers for Task 1 should total
approximately 1000 words.

LA021101
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10:53:50 GMT -05:00 Ed 2, CHCAOD001 Ed 3 1
© New South Wales Technical and Further Education Commission, 2018 (TAFE NSW), Version 2, October 2018

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 NB: You will need to do some research beyond the information provided in the learning
materials to be able to answer the questions well, and an Internet search is a good start.

Target Groups
 People with a mental health disorder
 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
 Prisoners
 Young people
 People from non-English speaking backgrounds (you can choose a specific
background if you wish)
 Gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender/intersex (GLBTI) people (you can choose one of
these groups if you wish)
 People in rural or remote regions of Australia

1. How does society and/or the media generally view or portray this group? What are
some of the stereotypes about this group? You need to provide examples to support
your conclusions, i.e. a brief survey of people you know, or evidence from
newspapers or TV programs. People with mental health disorders are often portrayed
and labelled as crazy, scary or unsafe. If someone with a mental health disorder is

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seen as public, they are usually thought to be on drugs or alcoholics. In a survey that
I conducted, 71% of the people who took the survey felt ashamed of their mental

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health condition due to other people’s prejudice. When asked why they weren’t

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seeking help (if it was needed), 30% answered “I feel I will be judged or not listened

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to” and another 30% answered “I feel like I cannot be helped”. Issues such as
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homelessness are faced with the judgement that the person is homeless due to
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drugs and alcohol rather than thinking they might be homeless because they couldn’t
seek help for their mental illness. 70% of the people surveyed felt ashamed by their
mental illness. Some stereotypes such as, someone with is just moody, can be
damaging to raising proper awareness to this disorder. A lot of people do not
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understand that there are many types, symptoms and behavioural factors for a
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mental health disorder. When someone dies from suicide, for example, the media
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report on the individual with mental illness instead of recognising suicide as a societal
issue. As a result of this, the consumers are more likely to see suicide (and other
mental illnesses) as an individual’s problem rather than recognises that 1 in 5
Australians are struggling with some form of mental illness.
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2 LA021101
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 2. How might this group’s alcohol and other drugs use be influenced by social, cultural
or environmental factors? A lot of people with mental health conditions haven’t or feel
like they cannot seek help (see below results) due to the fear they will be judged or
treated differently in their social groups. This causes things like alcohol and
substances abuse to become a coping mechanism rather than seeking a health way
to deal with their problems. It is more common for people who have grown up around
alcohol and substance to turn to these are coping mechanism when they are feeling
depressed or are suffering from anxiety. If someone has grown up around a family
that struggles to seek or ask for help when it is needed, the person may find it hard to
seek help for mental health conditions. Seeking help for mental health may be
frowned upon culturally making it hard for them to recover.
3. What are some of the important issues for this group in regard to their alcohol and
other drugs use? This could include looking at the impact that alcohol and other
drugs use has on their health; legal problems that arise; financial issues and the
consequences for relationships, including family, work and friends. Some important
issues are:
 They may already find it difficult to cope or manage their mental illness and alcohol or
drug use will make this worse.
 Mental health patience need ongoing help and support. If they are arrested or held in

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police custody for drug related offences, they may become distressed and ‘act out’.
This is due to their mental health and they will need help/support but it will not be

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seen that way by police.

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 Financially it is hard to substance an addiction to alcohol and/or drugs. People with

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mental health conditions are already potentially paying for medication and
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psychologist appointments.
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 Mental health conditions can have a large impact on relationships with family, friends
and work. This can be worsened by the mental health condition being untreated.
Alcohol and other drugs would further create issues for the relationships.
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4. What types of services or projects would be useful to minimise the harms of alcohol
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and other drugs use for members of this group? Briefly explain how they might be
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useful in minimising harms. Think about services or projects that focus on the alcohol
and other drugs user in the context of their environment and social influences. AA
meetings and support groups would be great services for anyone suffering with
mental health conditions and using drugs and alcohol. These would be useful in
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minimising the harms of drugs and alcohol because it offers a network of support and
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help services for people dealing with these issues. It offers a place where recovery is
celebrated. Programs like the Intensive outpatient programs (IOP), that focuses on
relapse prevention around the client’s schedule would also be helpful in minimising
the harms of alcohol and other drugs. A service that is able to take the clients out on
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‘community days’ would be great to link in with as well. They can take the clients to
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go for a surf, to the gym or recreation centres just so they clients have people to
hang out with and do things with.

Task 2
Read the case study provided below and answer the eight (8) questions that follow.

Case Study
Peter was diagnosed with schizophrenia 20 years ago. He has been tried with a number of
antipsychotics over the years, with varying levels of compliance with medication due to side
effects. He is a heavy smoker (more than 40 per day), has gained 30 kilos and spends most
of his time sitting watching television and drinking beer (10 cans a day). His smoking and
drinking means he has little money left for food, and he lives on cheap takeaways. He is

LA021101
This study source Written by
was downloaded Assignment, Cluster
100000823947576 from4CourseHero.com
CHC43315; CHCMHS005
on 11-05-2021Ed 3; CHCMHS011
10:53:50 GMT -05:00 Ed 2, CHCAOD001 Ed 3 3
© New South Wales Technical and Further Education Commission, 2018 (TAFE NSW), Version 2, October 2018

https://www.coursehero.com/file/78545620/LA021101-CHC43315-Written-Assessment-Cluster-4docx/
 currently living in a room in a boarding house but will have to leave soon as the building has
been sold. He has no idea where he will go. Peter left school at age 17 with poor literacy
skills and has not worked for a number of years. He is not involved in any social activities,
has no hobbies and has lost contact with most of his family and friends. His elder sister has
offered support in the past and Peter used to be involved with his local church. Peter would
like to change his lifestyle and improve his physical health but doesn’t know where to start.

1. What stage of change is Peter currently at? How will this affect your working with
Peter? Peter is at the contemplation stage. He wants to make a change but doesn’t
know how. Peter has not yet made any changes to his behaviour and it seems that
he lacks an understanding of house serve the situation is. Working with Peter will be
challenging but by addressing the issues and putting a plan in place to resolve them I
believe he will be able to achieve his goals. The right strategies will be needed for
this to succeed.
2. What would you do to assess Peter’s wellbeing? I would ask a series of questions to
measure the mental wellbeing of Peter using WEMWBS. I would make sure his basic
needs are being met and that he has access to clean water and clothes.
3. What are Peter’s current social, cultural, physical and emotional wellbeing issues?

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Peter’s social issues include:

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 Not having a lot of money to go out so his ability to socialise and meet new

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people is limited

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 He is not taking any medication so his behaviour may make people feel

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uncomfortable and uneasy making it hard to make a social group
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 He does not have any community involvement or social support network
Peter’s cultural issues include:
 Was involved in the church but has not been involved recently
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Peter’s physical issues include:

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 No housing
 No work and may have trouble finding work due to poor literacy skills
 He isn’t physically active and does not take care of himself physically
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 He is a heavy smoker which can impact on his physical health

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 Gaining weight, not eating healthy and is very inactive (physical health)
Peter’s wellbeing issues include:
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 He is not currently on any medications (emotional wellbeing)

 Consuming a lot of alcohol – this can effective his mental health and physical
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health as well as cause financial stress

4. For each aspect of wellbeing, suggest some changes Peter might decide to make in
his life.
Peter’s social issues include:
 Create a budget and factor in social outings
 See a psychologist about medication and gain a better support through the side
effects (if any)
 Get involved with community events and get in touch with family members
 Go to a local support group

4 LA021101
This study source Written
was downloaded Assignment, Cluster
by 100000823947576 4 CHC43315;
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-05:00 Ed 2, CHCAOD001 Ed 3
© New South Wales Technical and Further Education Commission, 2018 (TAFE NSW), Version 2, October 2018

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 Peter’s cultural issues include:
 Become involved with the church again and attend services
Peter’s physical issues include:
 Reach out to housing services and real estates about long term accommodation
 Do a course at TAFE (or something similar) to improve literacy skills
 Do a course to improve employability (support worker and teachers can help
throughout this course)
 Join a gym and train with a personal trainer
 Eat better and reduce the amount of smoking and alcohol intake
Peter’s wellbeing issues include:
 Talk to a psychologist about medication and ways to reduce the side effects
 Reduce consumption of alcohol
5. What barriers might Peter experience in making his chosen changes? Some barriers
Peter might face are:
Lack of finances

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

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 Lack of social and family support

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 Availability of appointments to see a psychologist
Addiction to smoking (not able to cut down)

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 Not having hobbies or anything to focus on
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6. What supports would Peter need in each of his areas of change? Peter would need
the support of a psychologist and to gain a network of people (family, friends,
community) to support him through each area of change. He will also need a trainer
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that is understanding and motivating to reach his desired outcome. I would also
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recommend Peter reaches out to local support groups so that he has people to talk
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to.
7. What approaches would you use to work with Peter to promote his social and
emotional wellbeing? Why do you think these approaches would be useful? I would
use a recovery-based approach for Peter. This approach does not focus on
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symptoms only and emphasises resilience and control over challenges Peter may
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face. I believe this will be the most useful approach because it aims to help Peter
move forward, set goals and have meaningful relationships and activities.
8. How would you review and record Peter’s wellbeing after working with him for a
while? I would make a recovery plan for Peter to be reviewed every 3 months. We
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could update the goals and strategies to suit how he was doing at that point in time.
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Also, by taking notes after each session with him and make sure there is a clear line
of communication with the services we’re collaborating with.

LA021101
This study source Written by
was downloaded Assignment, Cluster
100000823947576 from4CourseHero.com
CHC43315; CHCMHS005
on 11-05-2021Ed 3; CHCMHS011
10:53:50 GMT -05:00 Ed 2, CHCAOD001 Ed 3 5
© New South Wales Technical and Further Education Commission, 2018 (TAFE NSW), Version 2, October 2018

https://www.coursehero.com/file/78545620/LA021101-CHC43315-Written-Assessment-Cluster-4docx/
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