INTRODUCTION: More than four decades of war and tragedy have destroyed most of the public infrastructure in Afghanistan. Currently, drug use is a major public health crisis in the country and drug treatment services have extremely limited coverage. This article is a review of substance use problem and treatment situation prior to the reinstatement of Taliban. The aim of this article is to provide evidence-based recommendations for policy makers to improve substance use treatment services and to integrate some components of this sector into primary health care and to ensure sustainability of...

Background

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other LGBTQ populations (LGBTQ+; e.g., asexual individuals) have higher rates of substance use (SU) and disorders (SUD) compared to heterosexual and cisgender populations. Such disparities can be attributed to minority stress, including stigma and discrimination in healthcare settings. LGBTQ+-affirming SU treatment and related services remain limited. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative descriptive study was to characterise LGBTQ+ people’s experiences in SU services and recommendations for LGBTQ+- affirming care.

Methods

We...

Background

People with opioid use disorder (OUD) are frequently in contact with the court system and have markedly higher rates of fatal opioid overdose. Opioid intervention courts (OIC) were developed to address increasing rates of opioid overdose among court defendants by engaging court staff in identification of treatment need and referral for opioid-related services and building collaborations between the court and OUD treatment systems. The study goal was to understand implementation barriers and facilitators in referring and engaging OIC clients in OUD treatment.

Methods

Semi...

BACKGROUND:

Substance use increases the risk of damage to executive and cognitive functions. Manifested by a range of clinical symptoms, such impairments may affect people’s coping with everyday activities and their abilities to establish and maintain good social links. Substance users are an at-risk population in this respect. AIMS: Two cognitive rehabilitation interventions will be experimentally implemented into clinical practice and their effectiveness compared. The levels of impairment of the patients’ executive and cognitive functioning will be investigated.

METHODS:

The first...

BACKGROUND: The dropout rate from the treatment of patients with substance use disorders (SUD) negatively affects overall treatment outcomes. Little is known about the specific role of various psychiatric and psychosocial factors in the individual patients. Limited data is available in regards to mindset and addiction treatment, giving the opportunity of testing such interventions in the future.

AIM: To identify the key psychological, psychosocial, and other treatment related factors in the patients from the inpatient substance use treatment with addiction who have dropped out of the program...

Background: Physical health problems are common in people receiving opioid agonist treatment (OAT). A study was conducted on these health issues in OAT patients in the Czech Republic and Norway from 2010 to 2019, with a focus on gender differences.

Methods: In this study, it was a population-based cohort study that linked multiple health records to investigate physical diseases (using ICD-10 codes) in patients receiving OAT in the Czech Republic (4,280 patients) and Norway (11,389 patients) from 2010 to 2019. A gender-stratified analysis was performed.

Results: The study found that both male...