खोज
Faith-Based Strategies
Initiatives that are delivered through or in partnership with faith communities and organisations. These approaches often draw on spiritual values, community networks, and pastoral support to promote wellbeing, prevent substance use, support recovery, and reduce stigma. Faith communities can play an important role in raising awareness, providing social support, facilitating referrals to professional services, and helping reintegrate individuals affected by substance use disorders. When combined with evidence-based practices and strong partnerships with health and social services, faith-based strategies can contribute meaningfully to comprehensive responses to substance use and related harms.
Faith, Hope and Recovery: Building a Life Worth Living
ABSTRACT
Faith communities can play a distinctive role in recovery from substance use problems, not as a substitute for evidence-based treatment, but as part of the wider social, relational and spiritual resources that help people build...
EVIDENCE BASED ASSESSMENT OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND INSTITUTIONS IN COMBATING DRUGS AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
This study aligns with the conference theme “Connecting Sectors, Creating Impact: A United Response on Drugs.” It presents primary, field-generated evidence examining the preventive and community-response role of religious leaders...
"Proclaim Liberty to the Captives": Reflections on the Christian Contribution—Its Strengths and Vulnerabilities
ABSTRACT
Christians have played a significant and pioneering role in addressing substance use and supporting people on the journey of recovery. Drawing on the speaker’s experience leading addiction recovery work in the UK and Latin America...
Strengthening Faith-Based Responses to Drugs and Youth Criminal Recruitment: CICAD's Experience in the Americas
ABSTRACT
This presentation examines the experience of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) in strengthening the role of faith-based organizations in addressing substance use and the growing challenge of youth...
Faith in young people? Understanding the potential and purpose of faith in the recovery and desistance journeys of adolescents and young adults.
ABSTRACT
Holistic transformation and wholesale change are the ultimate goals of those who work with substance users. But what does it mean to be truly holistic? And what does it look like to engage young people holistically including in...
Hidden risks in mental health services: Workplace drivers of substance use among psychiatric staff in Accra
Abstract
Substance use among psychiatric health professionals poses a critical but under-recognised threat to patient safety, quality of care, and workforce well-being. Impaired judgment, diminished performance, and increased risk of...
EXPLORING THE COURT-MANDATED AND POLICE REQUEST FORMS INDUCTION AT SHIMO MAT CLINIC FOR A PERIOD OF 2020-2025.
EXPLORING THE COURT-MANDATED AND POLICE REQUEST FORMS INDUCTION AT SHIMO MAT CLINIC FOR A PERIOD OF 2020-2025.
AUTHORS AND AFFILIATION
JUSTUS OTIENO1
1 MOMBASA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH - SHIMO MAT CLINIC
BACKGROUND
Injection of...
Psychosocial Care for Offenders with Mild Substance Use Disorders
ABSTRACT
Thailand’s justice system has long faced challenges in addressing drug-related offenses, as punishment alone is insufficient to address the psychological and social factors underlying repeated offending. In response to evolving...
Beyond Treatment: Building Systemic Capital for Recovery
ABSTRACT
Treatment is essential to addressing substance use disorders, but access to treatment alone does not determine whether recovery can be initiated and sustained. People enter treatment with very different levels of personal, social...
SBIRT AS A TOOL FOR PREVENTION AND REDUCING RISKY SUBSTANCE USE BEHAVIOURS AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE IN ZARIA, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA.
ABSTRACT
Background: Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is an evidence-based practice that has been shown to reduce alcohol and drug use in healthcare settings, but there is a paucity of research on the...
We know what works, why don’t we use it? Some reflections from our work with Member States
For more than 15 years, UNODC has been promoting evidence-based practice on drug use, as well as treatment, harm reduction and recovery services for people who use drugs and people with drug use disorders, both in the community and when in...
A Mosque-Based MOUD Programme: Bringing Treatment, Peer Support and Faith Together
The Ar-Rahman Mosque programme in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was an innovative treatment initiative that combined faith-based and evidence-informed approaches for Muslim men experiencing Opioid Use Disorders. It was reported to be the first...
A scoping review of spirituality in relation to substance use disorders: Psychological, biological, and cultural issues
This scoping review explores the role of spirituality in substance use disorders (SUD) across psychological, biological and cultural dimensions. It reviews research on topics including spiritual awakening, drug craving, psychedelic-assisted...
Religion and Spirituality in Addiction Recovery
This scoping review examines the role of spirituality in substance use disorders across three interconnected areas: psychology, biology, and culture. It explores topics including spiritual awakening, the relationship between spirituality...
From Darkness to Light: Spiritual Turning Points in Recovery among Former Substance Users in Norway
This qualitative study explores how spiritual experiences contribute to recovery from substance use disorders among 24 people who completed Christian faith-based rehabilitation programmes in Norway. Participants described experiencing loss...
A mosque-based methadone maintenance treatment strategy: Implementation and pilot results
This study describes an Islamic-inspired methadone maintenance treatment programme delivered in a mosque setting for 36 Muslim men who used heroin. The programme combined methadone treatment with peer support and religious counselling...
International Recovery Day 2026: Celebrating Recovery
To mark International Recovery Day on 30 September, ISSUP Global, in collaboration with the Recovered Users Network (RUN), presents a webinar dedicated to celebrating recovery from substance use disorders and amplifying recovery voices.
What Should the Treatment of the Soul Be? Exploring Addiction, Alcoholism, and Overeating
“What good will it be for someone if they gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
— Matthew 16:26
What does it mean to “damage the soul,” and what might it mean to restore it?
The...
Recovery in the context of public health interventions within the criminal justice system.
Recovery in the context of the justice system and incarceration refers to a long-term process of change through which people see improvements in their health and stability, experience changes in identity, strengthen relationships, and gain...
The prevalence, risk and protective factors and service needs in relation to the comorbidity of substance use and neurodiversity
This report was commissioned by Citywide because Community Drugs Projects had recognised a need for support to develop better service delivery for people who were neurodivergent. Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign is a national network of...