10 recommendations for optimizing Canada's addiction treatment workforce

CrossCurrents

Leadership and supportive strategies

1. Support the formation of a Canadian treatment network of front-line addiction treatment providers that will, among other things, promote and support workforce development in the field.
2. Provide leadership in the creation and ongoing maintenance of an interactive web site that promotes best practices, encourages and supports ongoing learning and promotes Canadian and international content.
3. Host a national conference on substance abuse treatment that includes presentations and workshops on workforce development.
4. Promote a wide range of workforce development activities that match the varying needs of treatment agencies, including low-cost activities (e.g., web-based learning).
5. Continue to deliver and expand on the National Summer Institute series, but extend these sessions throughout the fiscal year and across regions.
6. Promote the development of national standards and competences for the addiction workforce that can be tailored to meet the needs of provincial-territorial jurisdictions.

Training and education

7. Work toward the design of education and training curriculum that is responsive to the needs of the addiction workforce in Canada and translates into best practices across core competencies, including records management, professional ethics, screening and assessment, conceptual models of addictions, individual and group counselling, treatment planning and evaluation.
8. Monitor and evaluate academic curriculum and professional training services.

Research

9. Continue to conduct research on and create awareness about the workforce development needs of substance abuse treatment providers, including further analysis of the data from this survey and future investigations.
10. Continue to conduct research on best practices in the substance use field.

The results of the study are published in the report Optimizing Canada’s Addiction Treatment Workforce, available on the CCSA’s web site. Visit www.ccsa.ca and follow the “Training and Workforce Development” link.

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