Dual diagnosis of mental illness and substance use disorder 

An underappreciated determinant of health disparities
Overview:
Mental illness and substance use disorder frequently co-occur, and this co-occurrence is commonly referred to as 'dual diagnosis'. Treatment and health outcomes experienced by people with dual diagnosis is an internationally recognised evidence gap. Despite emerging international evidence that people with dual diagnosis experience substantial health disparities, robust evidence on the treatment and health outcomes for people with dual diagnosis in Australia remains scarce. Furthermore, despite decades of calls to action and the promotion of Australia's 'no wrong door' policy, our capacity to identify and treat dual diagnosis in the Australian health system remains suboptimal. This is a well-documented impediment to achieving equitable mental healthcare. This seminar will present findings from Dr Young's program of work which has applied unique data linkage methodology to quantify health and health service use outcomes associated with dual diagnosis. An overview of the Australian arm of the multinational International Naturalistic Cohort Study on ADHD and substance use disorders, a large prospective cohort study in progress, will be provided. Opportunities for evidence-based policy reform will be discussed.