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We've migrated to a more flexible system for the running of Daily Dose but you can still get to the 7 years worth of archived content if you need to..
This free monograph is likely to become the handbook for the growing peer-based recovery movement in the UK. For administrators, the approaches it reviews offer a way to reconcile decreasing per-patient resources with a policy agenda now focused on reintegration and recovery [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Detoxified Malaysian heroin addicts were randomly allocated to a substitute drug, an oral opiate-blocking medication, or just to counselling. The results led to the introduction of methadone maintenance in Malaysia [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
In the first randomised trial, implants which block opiate-type drugs for months helped heroin addicts in Norway avoid relapse after detoxification [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
British needle exchanges which piloted distribution of foil packs for smoking heroin found they were widely used and may have increased attendance and reduced the number of injections, lending weight to current attempts to legalise such provision [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Two of the most widely recommended US school and family prevention programmes retarded growth in substance use, especially among youngsters who had already used by their early teens [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Expert and accessible review of the state of play in finding effective and (to the patients) acceptable medications to initiate or sustain abstinence from cocaine or methamphetamine. Though extensive, the results of this US-led search have so far been disappointing [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
For the minority of patients for whom it feasible, acceptable and safe, this meta-analytic review of behavioural couples therapy suggests it reduces substance use relative to other therapies, and the benefits are more likely to extend to the whole family [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Review conducted for the respected Cochrane collaboration finds that methadone maintenance and allied treatments for opioid dependence consistently and significantly reduce the risk of transmission of blood-borne viruses and curb the spread of HIV [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Combined findings from randomised trials confirms that brief advice to risky drinking primary care patients can reduce drinking in relatively normal practice, but will the benefits will be realised on a grand enough scale to create public health gains? [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Further analysis of findings from a US centre shows that systematically applying simple prompts and motivators especially and substantially improved aftercare attendance among patients with mental health problems, helping sustain progress made during initial residential treatment [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
US figures show that testing needle exchange users for hepatitis B and at the same time starting a short course of vaccinations (the UK model) saves lives and thousands of health service dollars, but UK exchanges have lagged behind in offering these services [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
In the USA two studies have shown that quarterly check-ups on former patients help identify the need for and motivate further treatment. Gains in substance use/problem reductions only became evident when improved procedures were introduced [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
After needle exchanges started distributing crack smoking equipment, drug injectors in Ottawa shifted from injecting to smoking the drug and less often shared their smoking equipment. The result was safer drug use and greater service contact by crack smokers [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
In the USA two studies have shown that quarterly check-ups on former patients help identify the need for and motivate further treatment. Gains in substance use/problem reductions only became evident when improved procedures were introduced [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Confirmation that brief advice to risky drinkers identified in accident and emergency departments can cut drinking and reduce the chance of further injuries and readmissions; the issue now is why this happens sometimes but not always [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
European and US studies show that methadone patients stick with therapy for hepatitis C disease and do as well as other patients, bolstering the case for drug services to encourage clients to consider diagnostic testing and therapy [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Early days for the Scottish version of testing for heroin or cocaine use on arrest, but so far it looks like an expensive way to get not very many users in to treatment; in two of the three sites, six to eight times more costly per treatment entry than voluntary arrest referral [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Latest update from the respected Cochrane review process still finds no reason to advocate replacing conventional care with specialised therapeutic approaches or integrated teams when severe mental illness is complicated by substance use [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Limited access to opiate substitute prescribing in Norway paved the way for a study which suggested that if 100 people are made to wait for treatment, an extra one or two will die per year compared to treatment being made immediately available [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
One of the biggest strategic decisions facing prevention planners is whether to target high-risk groups or to prioritise universal programmes. This analysis won’t decide the issue, but it does create an important new tool for comparing these strategies [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
