Background

People with opioid use disorder (OUD) are frequently in contact with the court system and have markedly higher rates of fatal opioid overdose. Opioid intervention courts (OIC) were developed to address increasing rates of opioid overdose among court defendants by engaging court staff in identification of treatment need and referral for opioid-related services and building collaborations between the court and OUD treatment systems. The study goal was to understand implementation barriers and facilitators in referring and engaging OIC clients in OUD treatment.

Methods

Semi...

BACKGROUND:

Substance use increases the risk of damage to executive and cognitive functions. Manifested by a range of clinical symptoms, such impairments may affect people’s coping with everyday activities and their abilities to establish and maintain good social links. Substance users are an at-risk population in this respect. AIMS: Two cognitive rehabilitation interventions will be experimentally implemented into clinical practice and their effectiveness compared. The levels of impairment of the patients’ executive and cognitive functioning will be investigated.

METHODS:

The first...

BACKGROUND: The dropout rate from the treatment of patients with substance use disorders (SUD) negatively affects overall treatment outcomes. Little is known about the specific role of various psychiatric and psychosocial factors in the individual patients. Limited data is available in regards to mindset and addiction treatment, giving the opportunity of testing such interventions in the future.

AIM: To identify the key psychological, psychosocial, and other treatment related factors in the patients from the inpatient substance use treatment with addiction who have dropped out of the program...

INTRODUCTION: In Spain, the offer of prevention programmes is very varied and structured, but today the challenge remains how to put evidence into practice. European Commission define a best practice as “a relevant policy or intervention implemented in a real-life setting which has been favourably assessed in terms of adequacy (ethics and evidence) and equity as well as effectiveness and efficiency related to process and outcomes”. The aim of the study was to describe the Spanish Project of Best Practice Portal in Drug Demand Reduction and Behavioural Addictions (the BBPPA portal).

METHODS...

INTRODUCTION: Prevention science and quality standards of drug prevention in the EU and in the world have developed in recent decades. Progress has been made in quality development in Croatia, but the experience of the process of improving the field of drug prevention and the implementation of quality standards in Croatia has not been described in detail in the literature. This case study is an example of adaptation of the European QS and the emergence of other quality assurance components in the field of addiction prevention in the Republic of Croatia. The study describes the Croatian example...

BACKGROUND: Implementing quality measurement is still a challenge in the field of drug treatment and harm reduction. In this case study, we investigate which strategies can be used to enhance the implementation of a policy in which quality indicators are made public.

METHODS: Building on an evidence-based methodology, this case study shows how an organisation in Flanders – the Flemish Institute for Quality of Care – develops quality indicators along with its strategies to implement the measurement of the indicators.

RESULTS: The study shows three types of quality indicators in the field of...

INTRODUCTION: In the favourable political climate of the mid-2010s, the standards for Assessment & Selection of Prevention programmes Issued from the Review of EDPQS (ASPIRE) were developed to support project planning in drug prevention.

METHODS: This case study is a narrative from the main coordinator responsible for drafting this quality assurance material.

RESULTS: The framework that led to the creation of the ASPIRE standards is described. The production process is then explained and, thereby, the 12 ASPIRE standards resulting from it are presented. These quality standards and their...

BACKGROUND: Coolmine’s implementation of quality standards involves a period of change management, strategic planning, and national policy development.

METHODS: A narrative case study focusing on national policy and internal strategic planning.

CONCLUSIONS: From 2000, Coolmine embarked on a change management journey that kept the organisation at the forefront of drug and alcohol treatment in Ireland and internationally while maintaining fidelity to the Therapeutic Community. The strategy for quality assurance is replicable across similar organisations.

INTRODUCTION: The Cyprus National Addictions Authority (NAAC) is the main coordinating body for all matters related to licit and illicit substances as well as pathological gambling in Cyprus and it is responsible, inter alia, for the licensing, evaluation, funding (where possible), coordination, and reinforcement of all programmes, actions, and activities related to substances and gambling. Licensing and funding are based on the fulfilment of certain criteria and a certain level of quality.

METHODS: The process that led to the establishment of a quality standards system for licensing and...

BACKGROUND: The implementation of quality standards in the treatment of substance use disorders in Lithuania is not well documented in the literature. AIMS: To describe the process of the development of quality standards from grassroots initiatives to their integration into mainstream healthcare under the leadership of the Ministry of Health.

METHODS: Narrative review of retrieved documents, including related legal acts, followed by a subsequent content analysis.

RESULTS: The implementation was divided into three stages characterised by specific activities, leading stakeholders, and the...