commissioning

GETTING THE (TREATMENT) SYSTEM RIGHT Key research on improving local alcohol treatment systems, mechanisms for establishing recovery-generating care with diminished resources. Starts with what has become seen as the ‘bible’ of recovery...

WHY IS THE ALCOHOL CASELOAD SHRINKING? The steady decline since 2013/14 in England’s alcohol treatment caseload has worried Public Health England among others. Is it because need for treatment is declining too, or have austerity-driven...

HOW MANY DRINKERS SHOULD BE IN TREATMENT? What proportion of England’s problem drinkers are in treatment, how far does that fall short of the number who *should* be – and how do we judge ‘should’? Depending on where you draw the line...

In England the clearest impact of financial incentives to screen primary care patients for risky drinking was the plummeting screening rate after the incentives were withdrawn. If these results are applicable to England as a whole, over the...

COURSE ON DRUG TREATMENT RESEARCH REACHES ITS CONCLUSION This instalment ends the 2018 refresh of the Drug Treatment Matrix, reminding you of the issues addressed in its five rows (listed below) intersected by five columns stepping up in...

Last of the 25 cells of the Drug Treatment Matrix explores research on how local treatment systems can protect the community – treatment in itself, and treatment offered or imposed by law enforcement authorities. The task is to meld...

Consolidates the lessons of the last five instalments of the course on drug treatment research, selecting and discussing key studies on psychosocial therapies for drug dependence. Research teaches us to see these as the enactment of the...

Key studies on the role of psychosocial therapies in treatment systems. Seemingly the only feasible way to do more (recovery) with less (money), mutual aid is a major theme. Examine the evidence for whether systematically promoting...