DANOS

What does DANOS stand for?

The acronym stands for:

• Drugs and Alcohol National Occupational Standards

What are National Occupational Standards?

Each National Occupational Standard unit provides details of the knowledge, skills and understanding required to perform a particular task within a job role to a national standard.

What are competencies?

Competencies are the underlying skills, knowledge and behaviours required to perform a job effectively (similar to National Occupational Standards).

So, why am I reading this?

DANOS is a portfolio of competencies that are specific to working in the Drugs and Alcohol sector (and some coincide with the Health & Social Care sector).

There are approximately 100 DANOS units, but don't panic - only a handful of these will actually be relevant to any one job role.

How do organisations in the sector use DANOS?

• Organisations will use them to help identify the skills necessary for a job role that they are recruiting for
• The relevant DANOS units will inform role profiles, job descriptions and person specifications
• DANOS will also be used in training and development to identify skills gaps
• Some DANOS units are integrated into qualifications, such as the NVQ Level 3 & 4 in Health and Social Care
• Within the NHS, there is a Key Skills Framework that relates to the DANOS units.

How can this help me?

When you are applying for a job in the Substance Misuse field, the job description and person specification should have competencies incorporated. We encourage you to look at the DANOS web site to see the relevant unit and familiarise yourself with the knowledge and skills required to do well in that particular activity.

You can also use this as a test to see if you are capable of the tasks asked of you in the job description.

To get clued up about DANOS, visit the Skills for Health and / or Skills for Justice web sites.