The International journal on drug policy
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Jan 2011
Impact of training for healthcare professionals on how to manage an opioid overdose with naloxone: effective, but dissemination is challenging.
Opioid overdose has a high mortality, but is often reversible with appropriate overdose management and naloxone (opioid antagonist). Training in these skills has been successfully trialled internationally with opioid users themselves. Healthcare professionals working in substance misuse are in a prime position to deliver overdose prevention training to drug users and may themselves witness opioid overdoses. The best method of training dissemination has not been identified. The study assessed post-training change in clinician knowledge for managing an opioid overdose and administering naloxone, evaluated the 'cascade method' for disseminating training, and identified barriers to implementation. ⋯ Training clinicians how to manage an opioid overdose and administer naloxone was effective. However the 'cascade method' was only modestly successful for disseminating training to a large clinician workforce, with a range of clinician and service perceived obstacles. Drug policy changes and improvements to educational programmes for drug services would be important to ensure successful implementation of overdose training internationally.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Jan 2011
Multicenter Study"Should I stay or should I go?" Coming off methadone and buprenorphine treatment.
This study aimed to investigate patient perspectives regarding coming off maintenance opioid substitution treatment (OST). The study explored previous experiences, current interest and concerns about stopping treatment, and perceptions of how and when coming off treatment should be supported. ⋯ While some patients may require lifetime maintenance, the issue of coming off treatment is important to many patients and should be discussed regularly throughout treatment and where appropriate supported by a menu of clinical options.