The problem

The Irish national drugs strategy wants to encourage people who use drug treatment services to play a more active role in their own treatment and recovery. However, we lack information about how users currently experience those drug treatment services.

The project

On behalf of the Department of Health, the HRB commissioned research to systematically review the international evidence about how people experience drug treatment services.

The outcomes

  • The review found that establishing two-way relationships with people who are using drug treatment services, treating them with respect and avoiding stigma helps foster positive engagement.
  • The research showed that person-centred care, where the person engaging with drug treatment services is listened to and takes part in making decisions about their care, helps to build that positive relationship
  • The findings can be used to help design new interventions and approaches in drug treatment services in Ireland.

Brian Galvin, says:

“People who engage with drug treatment, recovery and harm reduction services often have a good deal of knowledge that can help the services to help them. From the evidence review, we can see that a person-centred approach that listens to the individual and avoids judgement and stigma brings benefits for their treatment. We now need to bring this finding into policy and system-wide practice.”

“The benefits of person-centred drug treatment services” is part of a wider collection of success stories across four themes from this year’s annual Health Research in Action. Download the full publication.