HOW ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT AFFECTS SCREENING AND BRIEF INTERVENTION

Selection and exploration of key studies starts with a review mapping influences which might obstruct or promote implementation efforts, then highlights a striking illustration of the importance of organisational context emerging from an unprecedented US implementation drive. Finally, helps develop evidence-informed understanding of three important issues:- Are there ‘good’ reasons for ‘bad’ implementation? What looks from the outside like implementation failure may from the inside seem entirely justified.- Do the...

Opioid use and Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) continues to be a significant public health concern in the United States.

Several medications for OUD (MOUDs) are now considered by the medical community to be the criterion standard in OUD recovery

While many individuals with opioid use disorder seek treatment at residential facilities to initiate long-term recovery, the availability and use of MOUDs in these facilities are unclear.

A recent cross-sectional study, published in JAMA Network, has examined whether residential addiction treatment facilities in the United States use medications for...

People who have been incarcerated are approximately 100 times more likely to die by overdose in the first two weeks after their release than the general public. Despite high rates of opioid use disorder among justice-involved individuals, evidence-based medications exist and can be successfully implemented within jails and prisons.

To reduce risk of opioid overdose and recidivism and to better serve incarcerated individuals with opioid use disorder, the National Council, in partnership with Vital Strategies and faculty from Johns Hopkins University, developed a new resource guide titled: Me...

"In 2018, nearly 89% of the estimated 20.2 million Americans with a substance use disorder (SUD) did not receive specialized treatment for their condition—a disparity known as the “treatment gap”. Today, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is pleased to release the President’s National Drug Control Strategy and the accompanying National Treatment Plan, an evidence-based framework to increase Americans’ access to high-quality SUD treatment and support those in long-term recovery.

The Treatment Plan addresses the many reasons for this treatment gap. Many Americans cannot...

EFFECTIVENESS OF SCREENING AND BRIEF INTERVENTIONS

First instalment of a fortnightly course on the evidence for alcohol treatment and related topics. This instalment selects, explains and explores seminal and key research on the effectiveness of screening and brief interventions, intended to reduce harm across a population of heavy but not dependent drinkers. Highlights the SIPS studies, the most significant to date in the UK, and helps develop evidence-informed understandings of four key questions:

Do the SIPS results mean, ‘Just do the minimum’?
How ‘real world’ are supposedly real...

Abstract | Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic relapsing disorder that, whilst initially driven by activation of brain reward neurocircuits, increasingly engages anti-reward neurocircuits that drive adverse emotional states and relapse. However, successful recovery is possible with appropriate treatment, although with a persisting propensity to relapse. The individual and public health burdens of OUD are immense; 26.8 million people were estimated to be living with OUD globally in 2016, with >100,000 opioid overdose deaths annually, including >47,000 in the USA in 2017. Well-conducted...