National Drug and Alcohol Awards

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Parents Under Pressure (PuP) Leads the Way to Improve the Lives of Children from Families with AOD Issues

The Parents Under Pressure (PuP) program from Brisbane in Queensland has won the Prevention Category of the 2010 National Drug and Alcohol Awards.

The other two Finalists in this Category are the ReSet Project developed by the Manly Drug Education and Counselling Centre, and the Groote Eylandt Substance Use and Mental Health Project.

Established in 1999, the PuP program was developed in response to the well established link between high risk families with parental substance abuse and poor child outcome.

By interacting with parents with substance abuse in their own homes, the PuP aims to improve the wellbeing of the children. The 12 modules of the program contain clear goals set to work towards, and these are clearly related to the current family situation, for example: “making sure the children have breakfast each morning”.

Initially developed to improve child-related outcomes in families on methadone maintenance, an evaluation showed a reduction in child abuse potential for home-based PuP families against the control group. Since then, work has been done with women leaving prison and families referred by child protection services.

Research studies of all three programs have shown a demonstrated improvement in parental wellbeing, a reduction in depression and stress, and an improvement in child outcomes. The PuP program has been effective with a range of high risk families.

Since 2007, the PuP program has been adapted for use in Indigenous communities as part of the Queensland Indigenous Alcohol Diversion Program. PuP is now the primary treatment model for the Family Intervention Stream.

Families are referred from either the criminal justice or child protection system, and receive intensive case management and support via a health worker trained in the use of the PuP program. Ongoing monitoring of the effectiveness of this approach in ultra high risk families and children indicates the PuP methodology is both culturally acceptable and relevant to participating Indigenous families.

The Winner was announced at the National Drug and Alcohol Awards Dinner on Friday 25 June 2010 at the Citigate King George Square Hotel in Brisbane.

Media Enquiries: Brian Flanagan, NDAA Event Manager – Phone: 0400 860 058 (m)

25 June 2010

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