Process evaluation of Gorman House detoxification service

NDARC Staff

Claudia Sannibale, Ed Silins, Sarah Larney and Richard Mattick

Other Investigators

Alex Wodak

Rationale

Gorman House, a non-medicated residential detoxification service attached to St Vincent’s Drug and Alcohol Services, has been providing a service to marginalised inner city alcohol and other substance users since 1982. NDARC was approached by St Vincent’s hospital administration to undertake an evaluation of Gorman House, the first since its inception.

Aims

Design and Method

The evaluation had several components: a prospective study of 80 consecutive admissions consisting of a structured face-to-face interview; interviews with 15 key informants, individuals from services who are part of Gorman House’s referral system; an anonymous staff questionnaire; and access to Minimum Data Set information for 12 months of admissions. Each of these components provided valuable information which contributed to developing a comprehensive view of the current functioning of the service, gaps in service provision and possible ways of addressing these.

Benefits

Output

Funding

St Vincent's Hospital and Mater Health, Sydney