The ‘whole person’ is at the root of everything
‘The healthcare system doesn’t care. It sees me as an unnecessary expense.’ Hearing feedback from people who are perceived as ‘hard to reach’ (p10) gives direction on offering more effective treatment. But more than that, it gives clues on why people often don’t connect with the most appropriate service to help them move forward.
Seeing the ‘whole person’ is at the root of everything, as we hear in this issue – from teams working in substance misuse and mental health, GPs, and people sharing their experiences of treatment (including what really helped them). We’ve moved on from passing the parcel in ‘dual diagnosis’ and learned that many complex issues manifest in many different types of behaviour, so it makes absolute sense to integrate our approach. One of the big challenges ahead will be to safeguard addiction specialisms as we grasp the opportunity to coordinate care pathways (page 6).
Looking back over 25 years of events (p10) SMMGP have realised how far they have come in listening to lived experience. We aspire to do likewise, and have personal stories on trauma, recovery, and peer-led action. For some unflinching first- hand views on drug treatment, turn to p22. We asked for feedback and we got it!
Read the May issue as an online magazine or download the PDF
Claire Brown, editor
Email your letters and comment and keep in touch at @DDNmagazine