womens health
& family services

Resources

 

Womens Health and Family Services' programs develop resources to assist individuals and services providers in areas identified as requiring greater support.

Some documents are only available as hardcopies and must be ordered through WHFS. For more information please contact us on (08) 6330 5400.

If you wish to skip straight to a particular item, simply click on the resource name listed in the left-hand menu. 

 

Latest Resource

 

 

Engaging Vulnerable Women in Physical Activity

[Last Updated 21 May 2013]

WHFS is pleased to announce a new resource for workers who are involved in physical activity programs with vulnerable women. Engaging Vulnerable Women in Physical Activity is a resource  manual that  looks at issues from both an agency’s perspective and a worker’s perspective of engaging vulnerable women in physical activity sessions and programs from the following groups:

  • women experiencing mental health issues,
  • women experiencing domestic violence,
  • women with problematic alcohol and drug use issues,
  • women in prisons
  • women from migrant and refugee backgrounds and
  • Aboriginal women

 

Topics covered include:

  • Common issues and considerations when working with vulnerable groups
  • Tips for agencies and managers supervising physical activity programs in keeping programs sustainable
  • Tips for staff, instructors, and coaches delivering programs and sessions to keep women engaged

 

The State government through the Department of Sport and Recreation is a major supporter of this manual and accompanying workshop, Engaging Vulnerable Women in Physical Activity. For more information or for a copy of this resource, please contact us on (08) 6330 5400.

 

 

Directories 
 

 

Directory of Health Talks for Women
 

The Directory of Health Talks for Women is a short directory of health information sessions and workshops; It provides some key contacts of agencies around the Perth metropolitan area that offer information sessions or workshops for workers and/ or female clients.

 

Directory of Services for Women with Children in WA
 

The WHFS Directory of Services for Women with Children (WA) is a free online service created in association with King Edward Memorial Hospital. This directory has been developed to assist organisations and community members in finding programs and facilities for expecting women and women with young families, in Western Australia.

 

Podcasts for Health Professionals
 

 

Collecting Ethnicity Data
 

Dr. Anne Aly and Maree Stallard [2011]

This podcast briefly examines how and why to collect data. Also includes information on the ethnicity data collection tool developed as part of the ISI Capacity Building Project for Women and Children.

 

Evaluation of Services to CaLD Women with
Comorbid Mental Health and Drug & Alcohol Issues
 

Dr. Lynn Roarty and Prof. Sherry Saggers [2011]

A discussion on a qualitative exploration of the views of a small but representative group of practitioners who provide services to CaLD women with mental health issues and problematic substance use in Perth, Western Australia.

 

Women and Migration
 

Dr. Rita Afsar and Maree Stallard [2011]

A discussion about women’s experiences of migration to assist health workers to understand how migration experiences can impact upon women’s mental health and alcohol & drug use.

Click here to listen to the Women and Migration Podcast Part 1 Online [30.43MB]

Click here to listen to the Women and Migration Podcast Part 2 Online [19.97MB]

  

Working with Women Experiencing
Alcohol & Other Drug and mental Health Issues
 

Tania Towers and Maree Stallard [2011]

This podcast looks at some of the challenge of working clinically with women with co-occuring trauma, alcohol and other drug issues.

 

A Trauma-informed Approach
 

Nancy Poole and Wendy Shannon [2010]

Wendy Shannon talks with Nancy Poole, the 2009 Healthway Health Promotion Visiting Research Fellow, on topics including:

 Working with women who have experienced violence, mental health and substance use
Integrating our response to women’s experience of violence, mental health and substance use issues.
Nancy Poole from the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health in Canada, works on research and knowledge exchange related to improving health promotion policy and service provision for women with alcohol, tobacco and other substance use problems.

 

Complex issues for women affected by mental health,
substance use problems and the experience of violence
 

Marika Guiggisberg and Wendy Shannon [2010]

Wendy Shannon talks with Marika Guiggisberg on the complex issues for women affected by mental health, substance use problems and the experience of violence.

 

Practitioners’ Framework
 

Nancy Poole and Wendy Shannon [2010]

Wendy Shannon talks with Nancy Poole, the 2009 Healthway Health Promotion Visiting Research Fellow, on the subject of using a Practitioners Framework when working with women with substance use problems and related health issues.

Nancy Poole from the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health in Canada, works on research and knowledge exchange related to improving health promotion policy and service provision for women with alcohol, tobacco and other substance use problems.

 

Reports
 

 

National Drug Research Institute Report
 

Dr. Lynn Roarty and Prof. Sherry Saggers [2010]

This is the final report on the evaluation of services for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) women with comorbid mental health and drug and alcohol issues in Perth, Western Australia. The evaluation aimed to better inform the development of evidence-based training resources to improve the capacity of Womens Health Services Consortium to deliver services to this client group, and to enhance the capacity for self-evaluation of services.

 

Tools for Health Professionals
 

 

Ethnicity Data Collection Tool
 

Dr. Anne Aly and Gavin Currie [2011]

Equal service is not about giving people the same service, it is about them receiving a comparable service and, as far as possible, equal outcomes; By recording ethnicity data, we can ensure that we provide an appropriate and accessible service for the whole of the community.

The Ethnicity Questionnaire was developed:

To discuss the ways in which data collection informs your service delivery
To build awareness and appreciation of the need to collect ethnic group data
To identify the most useful data for your service delivery
To identify issues with ethnicity data collection
To inform the development of an ethnic data collection tool that will be most useful and easy to use
 

A podcast is also available through WHFS on Collecting Ethnicity Data, which gives a brief overview of this collection tool, as well as information on how and why to collect data.

 

Gender Impact Analysis Tool and Gender and Diversity Lens
 

Dr. Rita Afsar [2011]

Gender impact analysis is a tool that provides a practical, systematic method for ensuring that gender considerations form part of the development of policy, program and service design. As a tool GIA can be used for an agency as a whole, to review a specific program or to review a specific set of policies within an agency e.g. policies related to assessment of clients with co-morbid AOD and mental health problems.

  

Trauma-Informed Treatment Guide for
Working with Women with Alcohol and Other Drug Issues
 

Ali Marsh, Tania Towers and Stephanie O’Toole [2011]

The manual is for service providers working with women experiencing AOD and mental health issues. The manual covers a wide range of topics ranging from assessment and screening to case formulation to the neurobiology of trauma. The manual takes a very practical approach with a “Tip Sheet” at the end of each chapter and a number of useful appendices, including: Information sheets for clients on a range of topics; Information for workers to consider when confronting a number of issues such as domestic violence and creating a safety plan with a woman; and Assessment tools.

Whether service providers are working with women in a gender specific service or program or seeing women as part of a mainstream service, the manual will be a helpful resource.


Purchasing a Copy of the Guide

The second edition of the Trauma Informed Treatment Guide is also now available for $66 (plus postage & handling). This edition includes all previous content, plus an additional 4 chapters.


Copies of the first edition are still available for purchase for $33.00 (plus postage & handling) .
All funds will go back to the project to develop training and additional chapters for an addendum to the guide. 

 

Supplementary Training

A five-module training series is also now available. For more information on the guide or the Improved Services Initiative, please call Fiona Reid on (08) 6330 5400.

  • Click here for an order form for the Trauma-Informed Treatment Guide [302kb]

 

Family Resource Kit - My Plan

 

[2006]
This kit was created as a result of an identified need by the agencies and individuals within the alcohol and drug service sector. The aim is to support families, especially children, and provide a way for their views and wishes to be heard. Many agencies and consumers have contributed and actively supported the development and content of this tool.

 [Links updated April 2013]

 

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