What is a holistic health care framework?

The multitude of risk factors for premature mortality and poor physical health among those with AOD and mental health conditions provides the impetus for interventions that focus on overall wellbeing. However, there has been hesitation on the part of some service providers to address multiple health behaviours simultaneously due to the belief that making too many lifestyle changes will undermine a person’s recovery from AOD use. While this view has been particularly prominent in relation to addressing smoking cessation [209], it has not been confirmed by the evidence, which supports multiple health behaviour change [209–212]. For example, two reviews of smoking cessation interventions found that addressing smoking during AOD treatment actually enhanced long-term AOD treatment outcomes [213, 214]. AOD service providers have a significant opportunity to address multiple risk behaviours of clients with co-occurring conditions and help reduce the risk factors and incidence of chronic disease. There are four primary behavioural risk factors with which AOD workers should be familiar:

• Smoking.
• Diet.
• Physical activity.
• Sleep.