Effectiveness Bank Bulletins

Recent evaluation studies with important practice implications. Latest bulletin listed first. Move mouse over date to see contents list. Click on date for full bulletin or in contents list for selected items. Click HERE and enter e-mail address to receive alerts of new bulletins.

2010

• 5 February
  Crucial study delivers mixed scorecard for drug treatment in England ... Youth anti-drug campaign boomeranged say official evaluators ... US experts recommend alcohol tax rises as an important public health measure ... US task force says cutting alcohol outlets improves public health ...

2009

• 23 December
  English national evaluation fails to support drug education programme ... Primary school behaviour and parenting programme curbs teenage substance use ... Holistic family therapy helps younger teens and their families get back on track ... Long-acting naltrexone holds heroin at bay more effectively than pills ...
• 26 November
  Long-term continuing care improves treatment outcomes ... Modest support for drug-based treatments for alcohol dependence ... Methadone maintenance outperforms alternatives in randomised trials ... Target enforcement to reduce harm ...
• 21 October
  £0.40 per unit of alcohol plus discount ban would save a life a day in Scotland ... Intensive family support reduces need for children to be taken in to care ... Popular community prevention process cuts adolescent smoking and drinking ... Starting methadone in prison improves post-release treatment uptake ...
• 28 September
  Remarkable impact from alcohol parenting advice at parent-school meetings ... Counsellor skill influences outcomes of brief motivational interventions ... The power of walking in the client's shoes ... UK study supports naloxone-based opiate overdose reversal training ...
• 21 August
  Acupuncture does not aid treatment of alcohol dependence ... Unproven verdict on hospital-based brief alcohol interventions ... Guidance on managing pregnant opiate-dependent women ... Effective strategies for extending evidence-based practice ...
• 5 August
  Confirmation that tax rises are key alcohol harm reduction measure ... Practical research-based handbook for peer-based recovery in the UK ... Counterproductive to expect too much from homeless addicts ... Surprisingly small advantage for cognitive-behavioural therapies ...
• 20 July
  Opiate-blocking implants reduce post-detoxification relapse ... Unique head-to-head trial of opiate blocker versus substitute drug ... Foil packs extend harm reduction reach of needle exchanges ... School and family prevention programmes benefit high risk youngsters most ...
• 2 July
  NICE-recommended couples therapy endorsed by synthesis of findings ... Brief alcohol advice in relatively normal primary care reduces drinking ... Cochrane review confirms methadone maintenance prevents spread of HIV ... Still no silver-bullet drug to treat stimulant dependence ...
• 18 June
  Intercept and treat relapse by checking how former patients are doing ... Mentally ill patients particularly benefit from aftercare enhancements ... Harm reduction case for crack kits from needle exchanges ... Health service saves by vaccinating needle exchange users for hepatitis B ...
• 3 June
  Brief alcohol advice in A&E can reduce drinking and injuries ... No reason to deny hepatitis C treatment to methadone patients ... Is public health best served by targeted or universal prevention? ... Respected review process finds no case for special dual diagnosis care ...
• 26 May
  Compulsory testing and assessment nets few treatment entrants at high cost ... Computerised cognitive-behavioural therapy cuts substance use by a third ... Limits on methadone treatment in Norway reveal its lifesaving potential ... Intensive support helps drug problem welfare applicants quit using ...
• 27 April
  Scotland's auditors spotlight lack of system and clarity in drug policy ... Delaware commissioners engineer innovative and engaging services ... Persistent and practical efforts promote engagement in self-help groups ... Remarkable prevention outcomes from primary school good behaviour strategy ...
• 15 April
  Call to extend recovery vision beyond time-limited treatment ... UK government advisers call for major expansion of needle exchange ... Methamphetamine dependence reacts well to psychosocial therapies ... Drug testing school pupils is ineffective and risky ...
• 6 April
  Pupils use substances less in attachment-generating schools ... English drug treatment patients engage best with open, innovative services ... Acupuncture fails to ease opiate detoxification ... British drug courts yet to demonstrate crime or cost-benefit gains ...
• 18 March
  Most reliable estimate yet that raising the price of drink cuts consumption ... UK commission calls for less prison, more treatment ... Brief advice in emergency departments cuts alcohol-related injuries ... Not just high methadone dose or individualising dose – both help ...
• 14 March
  Human beings don't just react to rewards for abstinence – they interpret them ... Responsiveness and unfailing optimism aid primary care alcohol treatment ... Do hedonistic non-conformists really make the best British drug workers? ... Feedback really does aid motivational brief interventions ...
• 1 March
  English health advisory body recommends high coverage needle exchange ... Needle exchange works in prison; bleach second best ... Methadone maintenance works for prisoners too ... Heroin maintenance review portrays the practice reality as well as the outcomes ...
• 26 February
  Accreditation drives up treatment outcomes, cost-containment drives them down ... Intensive, continuing, holistic, practical support helps welfare mothers escape dependency ... Housing and work help homeless and workless; benefits of yoking to abstinence less clear ... GPs save time by 'as needed' consultations after brief alcohol interventions ...
• 23 February
  Rare review of the evidence on whether drug law enforcement works ... Britain's doctors tell government what they should do about problem drinking ... Is all it takes to tell people how their drinking compares to the norm? ... Leading UK clinicians offer evidence-based guidance on managing drinking problems ...
• 19 January
  UK project enables at-risk children of (former) drug using parents to safely live at home ... Choice of alcohol therapy matters little ... Needy clients do as well in day hospital as in residential care ... First randomised trial finds little benefit and some risks in testing pupils for drugs ...
• 8 January
  Minimum alcohol pricing and promotion controls will bring major benefits for UK ... Methadone-maintained do just as well as opioid-free therapeutic community residents ... Universal provision versus targeting prevention at high risk youth ... Too few syringe disposal sites? Cafes, churches and shop toilets can plug the gap ...

2008

• 17 December
  ‘Real world’ trial finds emergency patients drink less after brief intervention ... Multi-national WHO study trials primary care brief intervention for illegal drug use ... Should methadone maintenance be started before prisoners are released? ... Does residential rehabilitation deliver more heroin abstinence per £ than methadone? ...
• 8 December
  Reducing alcohol harm: health services in England ... Measuring performance of brief alcohol counselling in medical settings ... Screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment for drug and alcohol use ... Network support for drinking and client-treatment matching ... Primary care alcohol intervention: ranking health impact and cost effectiveness ...
• 7 November
  Benefits of residential care preserved by systematic, persistent and welcoming aftercare prompts ... Internationally proven community alcohol crime and harm reduction programmes feasible in Britain ... Brief contact and written advice as effective as a longer talk for heavy drinking hospital patients ... International review and UK guidance on merits of buprenorphine versus methadone maintenance ...
• 7 August
  Universal screening for alcohol problems in primary care fails in Denmark ... School-based smoking prevention: popular peers can help ... Needle exchange helps prevent bacterial as well as viral infections ... Home visits reduce risk to children of drug treatment patients ...
• 9 April
  Style not content key to matching patients to therapeutic approaches ... Still hard to find reasons for matching patients to therapies ... Helping drug treatment patients find work pays (some) dividends in Scotland ... Substance-focused initiatives not only way schools help prevent risky substance use ...
• 14 February
  High risk of death for opiate detoxification completers ... Female drinkers also benefit from couples therapy ... Harnessing peer interaction in school-based drug prevention can backfire ... Needle exchange coverage key to reducing infection risk ...
• 7 January
  Patchy performance of UK offender treatment initiatives ... Botched response to crack using offenders ... Treatment on bail makes little discernable difference ... Testing on arrest scatter gun nets some extra treatment entrants ... Testing children pointless but arrest referral offers early intervention opportunities ... ‘Most promising' alcohol prevention programme tried with poor black US families ... Self-financing resident-run houses maintain recovery after treatment ... Concern over abstinence outcomes in Scotland's treatment services ...