AUTHOR=Ye Xuan , Phillips Leighlan , Morrison Caity , Zhuang Jo , Chapman Brit , Portogallo Hannah , Hodge Michael , Linden Jo , Branchflower Antigone , Harvey Craig , Lundin Robert M. 

TITLE=A review of individual multidisciplinary team roles in alcohol and other drugs

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2025.1512703

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2025.1512703

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) usage remains high globally and in Australia and results in a high amount of morbidity and mortality in our community. The Australian AOD workforce comprises a highly diverse range of healthcare professionals. Since medical doctors and AOD roles without specific credentials have already been covered in the literature, this review summarizes on the other direct patient facing roles in the AOD multidisciplinary team. We focused on harm reduction workers, peer workers, social workers, pharmacists, occupational therapists, psychologists, nurses and nurse practitioners. The findings of this review show that previous non-specific roles such as peer and harm reduction workers are developing into their distinct disciplines with their own specific training. Experienced clinicians in their field such as nurse practitioners and senior pharmacists are given increasingly more scope of practice that aligns with medical practitioners. However, there is still limited research to some established disciplines such as the role occupational therapy and social work. Future research should focus on how these roles can be fully utilized in the AOD multidisciplinary team.