Can stimulants treat stimulant use disorder?
This ‘systematic overview of reviews’ assembled the evidence for stimulant use disorder treatments from the systematic reviews of literature.
Why Cochrane collaboration makes strongest researchers
So what has the Cochrane membership done for me? Inspired by Dr Jeremy Grimshaw’s question: “So what has the Cochrane Collaboration ever done for us?” I submit a report card, a mosaic of my previous blogs, on my first 10 years with Cochrane.
Addiction training provision must meet training needs
Closing the gap between training needs and training provision in addiction medicine
Substance use disorders pose a significant global social and economic burden. Although effective interventions exist, treatment coverage remains limited.
The lack of an adequately trained workforce is one of the prominent reasons.
Recent initiatives improved training nationally, but further efforts are required to build curricula that are internationally applicable. We therefore believe that the training needs of professionals in the area have not yet been explored in sufficient detail.
Addiction training provision must meet training needs
We propose that a peer-led survey to assess those needs, using a standardised structured tool, would help to overcome this deficiency.
The findings from such a survey could be used to develop a core set of competencies which is sufficiently flexible in its implementation to address the specific needs of the wide range of professionals working in addiction medicine worldwide.
Source: Arya, S., Delic, M., Ruiz, B., Klimas, J., Papanti, D., Stepanov, A., . . . Krupchanka, D. (2019). Closing the gap between training needs and training provision in addiction medicine. BJPsych International, 1-3. doi:10.1192/bji.2019.27
If you enjoyed reading about this research, you might enjoy reading about a similar needs assessment here:
Scoping the needs of early career addiction specialists, Protocol
Hospital based opioid agonist treatment
Researchers recently found that many people with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders are admitted to inpatient psychiatric units. According to a 2019 report from the Boston’s Institute for Healthcare Improvement and The Grayken Center, “hospitals have the opportunity to make a major impact in reducing morbidity and mortality related to opioid use.” The present study, therefore, looked at patients admitted to an acute care hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia. It sought to improve our understanding of this population and the care provided so that we can improve patients’ outcomes and care experiences.
Pain Management with Opioids in 2019-2020
This JAMA Insights Clinical Update reviews evidence-based use of opioids to manage noncancer pain, proposing opioid-sparing pain management. Based on recent literature and the rapidly evolving nature of the opioid overdose epidemic due to the emergence of fentanyl analogues in the illicit drug supply, there are clearly 3 main clinical scenarios being confronted by clinicians where evidence-based recommendations can be made. (more…)