scholarly journals Hidden need for drug treatment services: measuring levels of problematic drug use in the North West of England

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 286-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Beynon ◽  
M. A. Bellis ◽  
T. Millar ◽  
P. Meier ◽  
R. Thomson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Treatment ◽  
North West ◽  
Treatment Services ◽  
The North ◽  
Problematic Drug

Integrating Drug-Related Monitoring Systems—An Intelligence Led Approach

2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 663-684
Author(s):  
Martin Chandler ◽  
Jim McVeigh ◽  
Caryl Beynon
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Drug Treatment ◽  
Monitoring System ◽  
Alcohol Treatment ◽  
Treatment Monitoring ◽  
Monitoring Systems ◽  
North West ◽  
Treatment Services ◽  
The North

The Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University houses a number of distinct, but related, systems that collate attributable monitoring data from drug treatment, criminal justice, and harm reduction services in the North West of England. Briefly, the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System collates data from higher level structured drug treatment services (e.g., substitute prescribing, psychological interventions, and abstinence-based programs), while the Drug Interventions Programme collects data on criminal justice interventions both within the community and prisons, which aim to divert offenders into treatment. Alcohol treatment services for the region are monitored through the Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System. These systems provide regular reports to key stakeholders as well as themed reports to respond to specific public health and commissioning needs. These data are also used to demonstrate client crossover and pathways between services and regional trends in substance use. Finally, the data facilitate investigations into diverse drug-related issues such as injecting behavior, drug-related deaths, modeling to determine hidden drug using populations, epidemiological investigations, changing drug treatment demands, and monitoring the impact of government policy. In combination, these monitoring systems contain information relating to over 100,000 individuals in the North West of England over a 12-year period.

Problematic recreational drug use: is there a role for outpatient sexual health clinics in identifying those not already engaged with treatment services?

Sexual Health ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlyn Lovett ◽  
T. Yamamoto ◽  
Laura Hunter ◽  
John White ◽  
Paul I. Dargan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Sexual Health ◽  
Recreational Drug ◽  
Problematic Use ◽  
Treatment Services ◽  
Health Clinics ◽  
Problematic Drug ◽  
Recreational Drug Use ◽  
Sexual Health Clinics

Background There is an association between recreational drug use, high-risk sexual activity and sexually transmissible infections. Studies have shown a higher prevalence of drug use in those accessing sexual health services; however, there are minimal data on the proportion with problematic recreational drug use. We aimed to understand whether sexual health clinics could identify problematic drug and alcohol use as a novel referral pathway into treatment services. Methods: Males attending two sexual health clinics in London completed questionnaires. Data were collected on demographics; gender of sexual partner; use of alcohol and recreational drugs; if they felt they had problematic use of drugs, alcohol or both; and if they had sought help for their problematic use. Results: In total, 867 males completed the questionnaire; 387 (44.7%) were men who have sex with men (MSM). MSM had significantly higher lifetime use of any drug compared with non-MSM (80.6% vs. 62.5%; P < 0.0001). Thirty-five (4.7%) self-identified problematic drug or alcohol use, with no difference between MSM and non-MSM (6.3% vs. 3.5%; P = 0.08). Of those with problematic drug or alcohol use, 20 were currently or had been engaged with a treatment service and 15 had never engaged with treatment services. MSM were more likely to have ever sought help for drug or alcohol problems compared with non-MSM (P = 0.003). Conclusions: Some individuals attending sexual health clinics with problematic drug use have not engaged with treatment services. It is therefore appropriate to develop screening tools for sexual health clinics to identify these individuals and novel referral pathways to engage them in treatment services.

scholarly journals Criminally invalid: the treatment outcome profile form for substance misuse

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (11) ◽  
pp. 404-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Luty ◽  
Sabu Varughese ◽  
Joby Easow
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Outcome ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Treatment ◽  
Substance Misuse ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Illicit Drug Use ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Treatment Services

Aims and MethodTo audit completion of the Treatment Outcome Profile (TOP) form in individuals attending substance misuse services in England. Forms are completed at the start of treatment and every 3 months thereafter. All forms at 3-drug treatment services were inspected over 6 months.ResultsForms were inspected for 200 service users; 86% were fully completed. Two-thirds (67%) of service users had no declared funding for illicit drug use in the previous month (mean spending £988; s.e. = 149) despite denying any paid employment and criminal activity.Clinical ImplicationsThe section on crime in the TOP form is unreliable and completely invalid.

How well do trends in incidence of heroin use reflect hypothesised trends in prevalence of problem drug use in the North West of England?

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 537-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Millar ◽  
Islay Gemmell ◽  
Gordon Hay ◽  
Richard F. Heller ◽  
Michael Donmall
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Heroin Use ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Problem Drug Use ◽  
Problem Drug

Problematic drug use, ageing and older people: trends in the age of drug users in northwest England

2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 799-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
CARYL M. BEYNON ◽  
JIM McVEIGH ◽  
BRENDA ROE
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Older People ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Hidden Population ◽  
Treatment Services ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Problematic Drug ◽  
Hospital Stays ◽  
Physical And Psychological Health

ABSTRACTIn the United Kingdom (UK) and elsewhere, little is known about problematic drug use among older people (defined here as aged 50–74 years), either because few older drug users exist or because they represent a ‘hidden’ population. In this paper, we show that the average age of drug users in contact with treatment services and agency-based syringe exchange programmes (SEPs) in the counties of Cheshire and Merseyside in northwest England is rising. Between 1998 and 2004–05, the number of older male drug users in treatment increased from 80 to 310, and the number of older females rose from 46 to 117. Consequently, the median age rose from 30.8 years in 1998 to 34.9 years in 2004–05. Similarly, between 1992 and 2004, the number of older injectors accessing SEPs increased from three to 65 men and from one to nine women. The median age of SEP attenders was 27.0 years in 1992 and 34.9 years in 2004. Drug use amongst older people is associated with poor physical and psychological health and longer hospital stays. The future cost of the ageing of drug users may be considerable. Detailed research is needed to identify the characteristics and health needs of this vulnerable population.

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