Service user, family and friends’ views on the meaning of a ‘good outcome’ of treatment for an addiction problem

Abstract

in fo rm a h e a lth c a re S ervice user, fa m ily and frie n d s ' view s on th e m ean in g o f a 'good o u tc o m e ' o f tre a tm e n t fo r an a d d ic tio n p ro b le m Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the views of service users (SUs), family and friends on what constitutes a good outcome for the treatment of substance misuse problems.Methods: Six focus groups were arranged to explore and identify important elements of good outcome. Transcripts of the focus groups were analysed using thematic analysis. The content of the main theme, good outcome, was cross checked with SUs and the four authors. The main theme was analysed further into sub-themes. Findings: Participants were 24 SUs and 12 family and friend members recruited from specialist drug and alcohol services. The participants represented a broad range of treatment journey experiences in a variety of treatment modalities. A total of 20 outcome elements were elicited and categorised into seven sub-themes: abstinence, health, activities, relationships, social circumstances, self-awareness and wellbeing of family and friends. Conclusions: The focus of this study was on the ideal outcome rather than intermediate outcomes that might be valuable as individual treatment goals. Considerable weight was placed, by both SUs and their family and friends, on abstinence and ways of maintaining abstinence.

Does outcome measurement of treatment for substance use disorder reflect the personal concerns of patients? A scoping review of measures recommended in Europe

“…Failure to involve patients in the process of outcome measurement raises the possibility that measurement overlooks aspects of relevance for patients and over-optimistic reporting of outcomes (Thurgood et al, 2014). Increasingly, studies are seeking the views of patients about outcome measurement criteria (e.g., Ruefli and Rogers, 2004;Neale et al, 2016;see Table 1).…”

Building healthcare provider relationships for patient-centered care: A qualitative study of the experiences of people receiving injectable opioid agonist treatment

“…This perspective would also need to consider individual variation in participant's identification and prioritization of goals [64]. Some empirical research has been underway to develop [65,66] or inform the development of patient-reported outcome measures in substance use treatment [67][68][69][70]. However, ongoing research is needed to determine how such tools reflect individually based goals and outcomes in MAT with oral and injectable opioids.…”

“There Are Things I Want to Say But You Do Not Ask”: a Comparison Between Standardised and Individualised Evaluations in Substance Use Treatment

“…These instruments are mostly based on criteria selected by experts, which do not always coincide with what patients deem important (Pulford et al 2009;Thurgood et al 2014). A recent study has attempted to overcome this limitation by including patients in the development of a standardised outcome measure, involving them in topic selection .…”