Welcome to AFINet
The Addiction and the Family International Network (AFINet) is a platform which:
- brings together researchers, policy-makers and practitioners;
- promotes the well-being of family members, friends and colleagues who are affected by or concerned about another person’s problems with or addiction to alcohol, drugs or gambling;
- develops research, policy and practice in the field.
Latest News and Research
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Addiction and the Family International Network (AFINet) Webinar Series
AFINet is a free-to-join Network, providing a platform which: brings together researchers, policy-ma... Read more
Notice of Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Notice of Annual General Meeting (AGM) Preceded by a Webinar about Family Members Affected by ... Read more
The 5-Step Method via Zoom
Family Drug Support in New Zealand are using the 5-Step Method remotely, holding videoconferencing se... Read more
Medications for Opioid Use Disorder report added to website
A new report (“Medications for Opioid Use Disorder”) has been put onto the website under Country Reports.... Read more
Contributions required for the next AFINet newsletter
The next AFINet Newsletter is due to come out at the end of June, and there is a call to all members for ... Read more
AFINet Newsletter December 2019 (issue 10) published
Welcome to the 10th issue of the AFINet newsletter! As you may recall, we have adjusted the format of the... Read more
AFINet-related scientific papers added to website
AFINet Trustee Richard Velleman has added a list of AFINet-related scientific papers published from 2017 ... Read more
First AFINet International Conference at The Discovery Museum, in Newcastle, UK, November 2018
Conference Programme and Pack AFINET CONFERENCE PROGRAMME AFINET ABSTRACTS AFINET... Read more
AFINet member Urvita Bhatia presents Poster and gives Twitter interview
AFINet member Urvita Bhatia presents Poster and gives Twitter interview at the Wellcome Trust / Departmen... Read more
AFINet members publish a systematic review of “Psychosocial interventions for addiction-affected families in Low and Middle Income Countries
AFINet members Anil Rane, Urvita Bhatia, Jim Orford, Richard Velleman and Abhijit Nadkarni recently publi... Read more
5-Step Method training in New Zealand
Matua Raki (the national addiction workforce development centre in New Zealand) has been working closely ... Read more
5-Step Method training in Australia
As part of the ‘Checkmate’ programme (reported elsewhere in this newsletter) , Gill and Richard Velleman ... Read more
Article supporting our 5 Step intervention in DNN Magazine
Great to see an article in support of our 5-Step intervention for family members in the Feb '17 issue of ... Read more
Training near London in the 5-Step Method is announced
Save the Date! On 1st & 2nd November 2016, Richard and Gill Velleman will be running a 2-day trainin... Read more
What I’ve been reading this month (July 2016), from Jim Orford
I have just read two articles which come from countries which, as far as I know, have not produced resea... Read more
Further findings from the UK bereavement through substance use study published
Another paper from this recently completed 3 year study in the UK, which focuses on a subset of intervi... Read more
Core findings paper from UK bereavement through substance use study published
A paper outlining the main findings from a recently completed UK study in to bereavement through subs... Read more
AFINet 1st AGM, Birmingham, UK on Wednesday July 15th 2015
AFINet 1st AGM Birmingham Wednesday July 15th 2015 Winterbourne Gardens, Edgbaston Park Road, Birmin... Read more
Final event of a major 3 year study in to 'bereavement through substance use'
In June 2015 AFINet members, Lorna Templeton and Richard Velleman, attended the final event of a major ... Read more
5-Step Method training in Hong Kong & new book with contributions from AFINet members published
Following the delivery by Richard Velleman and Gracemary Leung of a 2-day 5-Step Method training in Hon... Read more
The Parenting Support and Drug Use Study:
The following papers may be of interest to AFINet members. They report findings from a two year longitu... Read more
Family members affected by a relative's substance misuse looking for social support: Who are they?
Brazilian AFINet colleagues, Helen Sakiyama et al. have had a paper describing their research in Sao Paol... Read more
Iran’s first research about family members affected by addiction
Iran’s first research about family members affected by addiction has been published! In fact we think thi... Read more
Conflict and dilemma in experiences of adult family members caring for a problem-drinking parent.
“How do I tell my children about what my mum's like?” Conflict and dilemma in experiences of adult fami... Read more
Involving family members in drug treatment: A pilot study of a social network intervention for heroin users in opiate substitution treatment
This multi-site randomised controlled trial aims to test the feasibility of implementing and evaluating ... Read more
Testing the short questionnaire for family members affected by addiction: help required
The short questionnaire for family members (affected by addiction) – the SQFM(AA) – is starting to prove... Read more
First AFINet Newsletter published
This is the first AFINet Newsletter so a big welcome to all AFINet members and to others of you who hav... Read more
Results from the first English Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC)
A team at the Centre for Child and Youth Research at Brunel University, London, led by Professor Judith H... Read more
A recent article raises interesting questions for AFINet about cultural differences
Although this interesting qualitative study by Maria Fotopoulou, of the School of Social and Political Sc... Read more
Is a child, harmed by the mother’s drinking during pregnancy, entitled to compensation
Is a child, harmed by the mother’s drinking during pregnancy, entitled to compensation, and what are the ... Read more
Bereavement through substance misuse
The first phase of this UK 3 year study (funded by the Economic and Social Research Council) has been com... Read more
Supporting young people affected by parental alcohol misuse in Northern Ireland
A major 4 year project is underway in Northern Ireland. Building on previous work (further information ca... Read more
2-day Workshop on The 5-Step Method: Supporting Family Members of People with Drug, Alcohol and Gambling Problems
Richard Velleman, a founder AFINet member, is travelling to Hong Kong in April to co-run (with Grace Leun... Read more
When Older Adult Substance Abuse Affects Others: What Helps and What Doesn’t?
Jan Ligon, PhD, LCSW Georgia State University The abuse of alcohol and other drugs in the older adult po... Read more
Addiction in context: The influence of families and wider social networks, theory and practice
During November 2013 Alex Copello was invited to give one of the keynote addresses at the Australasian ... Read more
The Forgotten Carers: Support for adult family members affected by a relative’s drug problems reports
This work builds on the first phase of UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC) family research, with a stud... Read more
Jim Orford speaks about gambling and family members at the Third International Multidisciplinary Symposium
Jim Orford recently made two presentations about gambling and family members at the Third International... Read more
Alcohol Focus Scotland | Unrecognised and under-reported
"1 in 3 people report having heavy drinkers in their lives" and "1 in 2 people report being harmed as a... Read more
Steps to Cope
Two projects have been completed in Northern Ireland with our AFINet partners to develop and evaluate Ste... Read more
The effects that substance misusing parents have on children and other family members
Richard Velleman recently gave a talk about the effects that substance misusing parents have on children... Read more
AFINet conference September 2020 in Rotterdam.
Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic we as a Board of Trustees have taken the extremely difficult decision to postpone the second AFINet conference scheduled for 9-11 September 2020 in Rotterdam.
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