Drug and Alcohol Misuse

A collection of training materials compiled by STRADA, Scottish Training on Drugs and Alcohol.

Can you recover what you never had?

There has been much talk in recent months as to developing a clearer more focus drug strategy. A drug strategy, that has a more clearly defined intention for both service users and those commissioning and providing the service. In Scotland this has produced a strategy that has placed the recovery process at its heart.

In the rest of the UK, the focus has been less explicitly stated. However, it is evident for recent conferences and debates in the media and within services that there is a momentum for change in how we deliver treatment and support services.

Recovery Management

This resource contains a synthesis of findings from scientific studies and recommendations from new grassroots recovery advocacy and support organisations that are collectively pushing a fundamental redesign of addiction treatment in the United States. This resource introduces a recovery management model through a collection of four papers.

Integrated care for drug or alcohol users: principles and practice update 2008

This document provides an update to the 'Integrated care for drug users: principles and practice' October 2002 published by the Effective Interventions Unit (EIU), which set out the definitions and concepts of integrated care for drug misusers. It also set out the key principles underpinning an integrated care approach and provided detailed evidence of effective practice under each of the six key elements of the integrated care process.

Blueprint drugs education: the response of pupils and parents to the programme.

English National Evaluation fails to support Drug Education Programme. In the British context, it was expected to decide whether an evidence-based, well structured and well resourced drug education programme could contribute to reducing youth substance use, yet the multi-million pound Blueprint study never got near fulfilling its promise. Though nothing definitive could be concluded from the study, signs were that in both knowledge and prevention terms, the lessons were not an advance on routine personal, social and health education.

Reflective journal (3)

The notion that effective professionals are those that can think systematically and critically about their own work, and use this to develop is now well established under the broad title “Reflective Practice”. There is an expectation of workers by most employers that they reflect upon their practice, and this often forms an important element of Continuous Professional Development (CPD).