30 July 2024
One of our strategic aims is to reduce inequalities in treatment and recovery for marginalised people. By using techniques like assertive outreach, we are able to take our skills and expertise out into communities to ensure we are reaching those who need us the most.
Across England and Scotland, our specialist teams go into communities to seek out very vulnerable people and offer them life-saving support.
Our teams use assertive outreach techniques to engage the hardest to reach people in our society. These individuals are often using substances to deal with deep-rooted trauma and may have already had non-fatal overdoses.
Chris Walker, manager at our WithYou in Dumfries and Galloway service, explains: “Assertive outreach is about finding a way to connect with and help people who aren’t engaging with other services. The ultimate goal is to work with them for a short period of time, and then help them to move on to another service.
“Here in Scotland, our medically assisted treatment (MAT) standards state that all people accessing services have the option to start treatment from the same day of presentation. By working in partnership with the NHS to deliver assertive outreach, we are able to ensure this.”
In Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, our Housing Support service uses assertive outreach techniques with people who are at risk of losing their homes.
Team leader Bel Smith says: “We build trust with vulnerable people, bring them into our service, and support them to feel empowered enough to begin their recovery journeys. We stand with people when they’re at rock bottom: we don’t let people walk through darkness alone.”
Our multi-agency Connect For Change project, based in South Ayrshire, is staffed by a WithYou nurse and two WithYou recovery workers, as well as an NHS mental health nurse and a worker from the Ayrshire Council for Alcohol, who have both been seconded to us.
Johnny Lusk, team leader, says: “I am proud that my team is out on the streets, helping people who won’t ask for help and who aren’t engaging with other services. We believe it is our job to find a way to connect with them.
“We recently got a van, which will be used to take clean injecting equipment and other harm reduction tools into remote communities. We will go wherever we are needed.”
Read John's story to find out how assertive outreach is changing lives