BMJ  2007;335:203-205 (28 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.39265.639641.AD

Practice

NICE guidelines

Psychosocial interventions and opioid detoxification for drug misuse: summary of NICE guidance

Stephen Pilling, joint director of National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, director of Centre for Outcomes, Research and Effectiveness1, John Strang, professor in addiction research2, Clare Gerada, general practitioner3

1 Centre for Outcomes, Research and Effectiveness, Department of Psychology, University College London, London WC1E 8XA, 2 National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, 3 Hurley Clinic, Ebenezer House, London SE11 4HJ

Correspondence to: S Pilling s.pilling@ucl.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Why read this summary?

Drug misuse is an increasing problem that not only impairs the physical and mental health of people who misuse drugs but also negatively affects their families and wider society (for example, in its association with crime). Recently expanded drug services in the United Kingdom involve general practitioners to a considerable degree, who care for at least a third of opioid misusers in treatment. Many clinicians remain pessimistic, however, about the possible benefits of any treatment and how to engage drug users in treatment.1 This article summarises two new NICE guidelines that identify the most effective, safe detoxification regimens for primary and secondary care, the most cost effective psychosocial interventions, and effective ways to promote patient engagement.2 3

Recommendations

NICE recommendations are based on systematic reviews of best available evidence. When minimal evidence is available, a range of consensus techniques is used to develop recommendations. In this summary, recommendations derived primarily from consensus . . . [Full text of this article]

Overcoming barriers


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

The last choice
Douglas Kamerow
BMJ 2007 335: 0. [Extract] [Full Text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

NICE Guidelines and opioid detoxification
Alasdair J Macdonald
bmj.com, 29 Jul 2007 [Full text]
NICE or narrow-minded?
Woody Caan
bmj.com, 31 Jul 2007 [Full text]
Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ