Screening and assessment instruments for use in Indigenous-specific alcohol and drug treatment rehabilitation

Abstract

Objective: The study's aim was to review instruments suitable for assessing Australian Indigenous clients' treatment needs, and changes in wellbeing while receiving treatment for substance misuse at a culturally competent residential setting in north Queensland, Australia. Method: Searches of electronic databases, previously published reviews and websites was conducted. Instruments were selected according to their use in alcohol and drug treatment, developed for and/or validated with Australian Indigenous populations and applicability to measuring wellbeing. Findings: Forty instruments were identified and their characteristics summarised according to five descriptive categories: (1) evidence of psychometric utility and previous use in alcohol and drug treatment settings, (2) developed for, used with, and/or validated specifically for Australian Indigenous populations, (3) a flexible administrative method of self-report and/or interview, (4) an administration time of less than 20 minutes and (5) freely accessible in the public domain. Conclusions: Few instruments were found to have been validated specifically for use with Australian Indigenous people for use in drug and alcohol treatment. In order to measure wellbeing change and effective treatment, it may be possible to appropriately modify mainstream instruments, however, validation and sensitivity assessment of instruments for use with Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, is urgently required.

A systematic review of studies evaluating Australian indigenous community development projects: the extent of community participation, their methodological quality and their outcomes

“…Existing studies show that it is possible to develop reliable and valid measures that are culturally appropriate and acceptable to Indigenous Australians [ 78 – 83 ], but the lack of measurement studies specifically related to community projects identified in this review (one study, see Fig. 1 ) clearly indicates that more of this measurement research is urgently needed [ 80 ].…”

Using the risk behaviour diagnosis scale to understand Australian Aboriginal smoking — A cross-sectional validation survey in regional New South Wales

“…It is important to validate psychometric measures before use in a cross-cultural Indigenous context ( Drew et al, 2010 ). Instruments to assess mental health and substance use ( Stephens et al, 2013 ), have been recently validated for Aboriginal Australians, but not tobacco smoking. This study uses the findings from a cross-sectional study of Aboriginal Australians to validate risk assessment scales for tobacco smoking in this population.…”

Why validation is not enough: Setting the scene for the implementation of the Kimberley Mum’s Mood Scale

“…Consistent with tool development within the wider population, briefness remains highly valued in the development of Aboriginal specific screening tools [33,34,51]. The screening tools have also generally maintained a closed system approach to screening [29,30,[52][53][54][55]. The effectiveness and appropriateness of closed system approaches to assessing risk is questionable for populations with complex and/or diverse needs as these groups have typically been excluded from the population based studies in which the risk criteria was determined from and validated with [50].…”