training & events

Listening & Responding to Children Affected by Parental Substance Use

The aim of this course is to support practitioners in adult substance use and children's services to listen and respond effectively and appropriately to children affected by parental substance use. Following discussions with Scottish Government, this course has been developed using the Lloyds PD report "Everyone has a Story", as the overarching narrative and uses this to tie across to the broader political and legislative agendas.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this two day training session, participants will be able to:

• Identify the impact of substance use on children.
• Describe the cycles of change in parental use and recovery from a child's perspective.
• Discuss key issues in assessment of needs and risks of children affected by parental substance use.
• Recognise the impact of change/recovery in children's lives.
• Identify ways to actively engage and hear young people's stories.

Taking place at:

Brodgar A Room, Balfour Hospital, Kirkwall

22nd October 2019 9.30 to 16.30

Register for this training HERE:

Sex, Drugs & Blood Bourne Viruses.

This training aims to increase workers' understanding and knowledge of key issues related to blood borne viruses (BBVs - Hep B, Hep C, and HIV) with a particular emphasis on risks associated with drug use and sexual health.

Learning Outcomes

By attending this training, participants will be able to:

• Recall transmission routes and prevention strategies for the three BBVs.
• Describe the different testing methods and treatment options available.
• Understand the public health priorities for each of the three BBVs for people who use drugs.
• Confidently engage with service users and professionals on issues around BBVs.
• List key resources and services available to support those affected by BBVs.

Taking place at:

Brodgar B Room, Balfour Hospital, Kirkwall

15th October 2019 – 9.30 to 16.30

Register for this training session HERE:

Sex, Drugs & Vulnerable Young People.

This 2 day interactive course will use different techniques to cover issues that vulnerable young people face in relation to sex and drug use, including sexual orientation and gender identity. It aims to help workers to recognise the importance of their role in delivering key messages to promote healthy relationships and harm reduction. The course will cover the different substances and the impact they have on sexual and reproductive health in addition to sex and the law, contraception, sexually transmitted infections and blood borne viruses.

By the end of this course participants will be able to:

• Identify vulnerabilities regarding drug use and sexual health.
• Recall what the law says with regards to sexual and reproductive health.
• Describe the impact of drug use on sexual and reproductive health.
• State basic information on contraception and sexually transmitted infections.
• Understand the challenges faced by young people around sexual orientation and gender identity.
• Build confidence in talking to young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships.
• Challenge perceptions and beliefs around sexual and reproductive health and drug use.

Taking Place at:

Brodgar B Room, Balfour Hospital, Kirkwall.

30th September 2019 to 1st October 2019 – 10.00 to 16.00  

Register for this training session HERE. 

Drug Awareness:

This training aims to increase workers' drug awareness knowledge and provide an opportunity to explore current and emerging trends with substance use.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the session participants will be able to:

• Name the 7 key drug categories and their key effects.
• Recall an overview of the key substance in use.
• Identify the reasons why people choose drugs and alcohol.
• Recall poly-drug use and dependants substance use patterns.
• Describe signs of overdose and how to respond.
• Identify effective techniques to support people who use drugs and alcohol.

Taking place at: 

Brodgar B Room, Balfour Hospital, Kirkwall

25th September 2019 – 9.30 to 16.30

Register for this training session HERE.

Engagement Skills:

Whatever the particular services being provided, client engagement is a key. Engagement can occur within minutes or take much longer to establish and maintain. It is the degree to which someone feels like a comfortable and active participant in the consultation. In the helping professions, people who are actively engaged are more likely to stay, adhere to, and benefit from service provision. It is the fuel that drives any good service (Miller and Rollnick, 2013).

Aim: This one day learning and development opportunity is designed to describe the process of engaging and the skills for promoting it with individual clients.

Learning Outcomes

• Describe what constitutes engagement from a therapeutic perspective.
• Observe and debrief demonstrations of skills in the engagement process.
• Demonstrate and practice the interpersonal style and primary skills for promoting engagement with individual clients.
• Develop a personal plan for practising and incorporating the interpersonal style and primary engagement skills into practice.

Taking Place at:

Brodgar B Room, Balfour Hospital, Kirkwall

24th September 2019 – 9.30 to 16.30 

Register for this training session HERE.