The Effective Interventions Unit delivered an Advocacy seminar in March 2005 to promote the concept of advocacy for drug users as well as providing an opportunity to consider the practicalities of setting up an advocacy service.

The purpose of this event was to promote the concept of advocacy for drug users, consider the practicalities of setting up an advocacy service for drug users and consider dedicated advocacy services for young people.

The event was attended by 35 people.

Presentations from the Advocacy Event:

The purpose of this event was to disseminate the key elements of ICP Guide 9: Single Shared Assessment and to share experience of single shared assessment (SSA), both tools used and the processes involved.

This event was attended by 58 people.

Presentations from the Single Shared Assessment Event:

Following the publication of 'Integrated Care for Drug Users: Principles and Practice' (EIU, 2002) which includes guidance on information sharing and safeguarding client confidentiality, the EIU made a commitment to do further work to support the development of information sharing. The EIU commissioned Maggie Havergal Associates Ltd to provide facilitation support, in the form of information sharing workshops, to all DAATs who wished to run them.

The first three events took place in March 2004. These were evaluated by the EIU and adjustments made to the format and content of the workshops, as necessary, prior to organising further events.

Eight information sharing workshops took place between March 2004 and March 2005. These workshops were attended by a total of 161 people. A further two events are planned for April to May 2005.
Feedback from DAAT Information Sharing Workshops.

The Effective Interventions Unit delivered two Needs Assessment workshops in Edinburgh in December 2004 and Perth in March 2005 as part of its remit to facilitate the use of evidence about effective practice and to support Drug and Alcohol Action Teams, service managers and service planners in their efforts to develop integrated services for drug users. These workshops followed on from the EIU publication, Needs Assessment: A Practical Guide to Assessing Local Needs for Services for Drug Users.
The purpose of these workshops was to give delegates a step-by-step introduction to the process of needs assessment, to give some practical suggestions for carrying out needs assessment, to provide delegates with an opportunity to grapple with various aspects in the process of needs assessment and to enable those who are involved in planning and developing services to share experience and learn from each other.
The events were attended by 74 people.
Presentations from the Needs Assessment Workshops:

Edinburgh:

Perth:

The purpose of these seminars was to reflect on the key issues raised by the Young People's Assessment Guide, to provide an opportunity for delegates to consider some of the key messages from the guide and how these could be put into practice in their own areas and to enable those involved in delivering, planning and managing services for children and young people to share experience.

These events were attended by 130 people.
Feedback from Young People's Assessment Dissemination Seminars

Presentations from Young People's Assessment Seminars:

The Effective Interventions Unit delivered two seminars in Inverness and Stirling during October 2004 to explore the key issues and factors associated with the commissioning, planning and delivery of integrated care for drug users in rural and remote areas; and to identify, where possible, practical examples of effective/innovative approaches.

The purpose of these events was to identify the specific issues and factors that affect the treatment, care and support for drug users in rural and remote areas as well as examining in the light of these factors, whether integrated care is a viable approach in rural and remote areas. We also looked at how this impacts on the ability to commission, plan and deliver integrated care for drug users and what has to be in place to plan and deliver integrated care in rural and remote areas. Overall, the seminar was about sharing experiences about what is currently happening locally to develop integrated treatment, care and support services for drug users and discuss whether these approaches are effective.

These events were attended by 66 people.
A seminar report and summary were published in February 2005.

The Effective Interventions Unit (EIU) delivered four seminars in Inverness, Bishopton, Edinburgh and Dundee during October and November 2004 to promote knowledge and understanding of Integrated Care Pathways (ICPs), how they are being used and whether they could improve service planning and delivery for drug users.

The purpose of these seminars was to improve participants' knowledge of ICPs, provide an opportunity for practitioners to share experience, improve participants' ability to locally develop ICPs and to raise the profile of EIU ICP guides and gauge their operational impact.

These events were attended by 140 people in total.

Seminar feedback/reports are being developed and will be disseminated shortly.
Presentations from the Integrated Care Pathways seminars:

Professor Avril Taylor (Paisley University) presented the findings with illustrations from her video data. Dr Jenny Scott (Bath University) also described how the findings from the Injecting Practices study will be used to develop an injecting kit and new harm reduction advice for drug users.

The events were attended by 208 delegates.

Presentations from the Injecting Practices Seminars

In May 2004, the Effective Interventions Unit and Edinburgh City Drug Action Team Employability Sub-Group held a joint seminar in Edinburgh on Employability.

The purpose of the seminar was to examine the concept of employability and consider what makes it an effective approach for substance users, look at existing referral practices (before during and after) within Edinburgh in order to examine how the transition from treatment to employability services is managed and consider ways of improving links between a) agencies who are focused on employment-related activities, and b) with employers.

35 participants attended this event.

Presentations from the Employability Seminar

The purpose of this event was to allow stakeholders an opportunity to discuss the questions posed in the consultation paper in more depth. Participants were given the opportunity to express their views on the types of work that should be covered by the wider EIU work programme over the period 2004-07, which has the broader remit of disseminating effective practice in the field of drug misuse.

The event was attended by 22 people.

The purpose of the seminar was to consider the present pattern of specialist and generic services for drug users in Midlothian, how these services fit with national and local priorities and how they currently meet the needs of service users; consider whether the establishment of a Locality Clinic would meet an identified need and fit within an integrated approach to service provision within Midlothian and agree the next steps towards a framework for action planning.

36 participants attended this event.

Feedback from Integrated Drug Services in Midlothian Seminar

The purpose of the day was to consider whether and how advocacy may help drug users, identify which types of advocacy would be most relevant to drug users and consider how an advocacy service should be planned and delivered.
The event was attended by 31 people.
Feedback from Advocacy Seminar

Presentations from the Advocacy Seminar

The purpose of the seminar was to update on the current work of the EIU, seek views on the future scope and direction of EIU, ask for DAATs views on topics for inclusion in the Drugs Misuse Research Programme and provide DAAT colleagues with an opportunity to raise directly with EIU issues and topics of particular interest and concern at local level.

This event was attended by 25 delegates.

Feedback from DAAT Event

The purpose of the event was to reflect on the key issues raised by 'Services for Young People with Problematic Drug Misuse - A Guide to Principles and Practice', provide an opportunity to consider the implementation process and how this could be put into practice in West Dunbartonshire and to provide an opportunity for those involved in delivering, planning and managing services in West Dunbartonshire to share experience.

The event was attended by 60 people.

Feedback from West Dunbartonshire Young People Event

The Effective Interventions Unit in collaboration with the Partnership Drugs Initiative, Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland organised three seminars in Glasgow, Dundee and Stirling during February and May 2003 to enable those with any interest to explore how this work may be taken forward.

The purpose of these seminars was to reflect on the key issues raised by 'Services for Young People with Problematic Drug Misuse - A Guide to Principles and Practice'. The events provided an opportunity to consider the implementation process and how this could be put into practice in delegates own areas. It also provided an opportunity for those involved in delivering, planning and managing services to share experience.

These events were attended by 170 people.

Feedback from the Young People's Seminars

The Effective Interventions Unit organised three regional seminars in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh during November/December 2002 to disseminate the main messages of 'Supporting Families and Carers of Drug Users: A Review' and promote discussion amongst service commissioners, service providers and family members.

The purpose of these seminars was to disseminate the key findings from the review, reflect on the key elements of supporting families and carers of drug users and provide an opportunity to consider the key issues for families and service providers highlighted in the document.

170 people attended these events.

Feedback from the Family Support Seminars

The Effective Interventions Unit organised a Research Conference in Stirling in November 2002 to disseminate the key findings from our research reviews and studies.

The purpose of this seminar was to disseminate the work of some of the major research areas covered by the work of the EIU since 2001- Drug Misuse Research Programme. The event provided a forum for topics covered in the research programme to be discussed with others and provided the opportunity to discuss the tendering and commissioning process for the research programme. It was also an opportunity to seek feedback from researchers on their experiences.

This event was attended by 61 people.

The Effective Interventions Unit organised four regional seminars in Glasgow, Dundee, Inverness and Edinburgh during October/November 2002 to disseminate the key messages of 'Integrated Care for Drug Users: Principles and Practice' and to encourage DATs, key agencies and service providers from a number of sectors to discuss implementation.

The purpose of these seminars was to reflect on the key themes of 'Integrated Care for Drug Users - Principles and Practice' and provide an opportunity to consider the implications of putting the key elements of integrated care into practice in delegates' own areas. We also wanted to provide a forum for topics of interest to be discussed with others and share ideas and innovative practice in connection with Integrated Care.

These events were attended by 258 people.

Feedback from the Integrated Care Seminars

The Effective Interventions Unit in collaboration with the Partnership Drugs Initiative, Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland organised a consultation seminar in Stirling to build on the research review commissioned by the EIU and conducted by York Consulting and Dundee University. Drug Treatment Services for Young People: A Research Review publication

The purpose of this seminar was firstly to identify the key issues to address in planning, designing and delivering services for young people under 16 who have drug misuse problems. Secondly, it was aimed to identify those who need to work in partnership in order to deliver an effective service and the specific issues which affect the delivery of a service for young people. Thirdly, it was hoped that we could identify ways of monitoring and evaluating progress of the young person while in treatment and the effectiveness of the treatment service.

This event was attended by 44 people.

The Effective Interventions Unit organised two consultation seminars in Stirling and Dundee during June 2002 to provide information on the EIUs work on Integrated Care for drug users and to stimulate discussion with service providers on implementation.

The purpose of these events was to inform service providers of progress on the Integrated Care Report, discuss specific elements of integrated care and gather views and examples of innovative practice from service providers on implementation issues.

These events were attended by 62 people.

The Effective Interventions Unit organised a half day seminar in Glasgow to disseminate the findings of "Arrest Referral: A Guide to Principles and Practice."

The purpose of the event was to highlight the key issues raised in the Arrest Referral Guide; set arrest referral within the wider context of criminal justice and treatment interventions to help drug users towards recovery; and to set out proposals for monitoring and evaluation.

The event was attended by 64 people.