3 Aims of the “Moretreat”-project

The main objective of the project “Models of good practice in drug treatment in
Europe” (Moretreat) was to identify, collect and evaluate models of good practice in
drug treatment in Europe. European drug treatment interventions were identified and
collected from all EU-Member States. Based on a consensus process good practice
guidelines have been formulated for key interventions in drug treatment as well as for
the system level of drug treatment services.

For the consensus building the delphi-method was intended to be applied as a proven
strategy to initiate and facilitate the process of consensus among experts.

The overall aim of the project was contribute to guidance for improving drug treatment
and health care in the EU-Member States. For this reason recommendations have been
developed that are to support the improvement of drug treatment on a European level
and thus are of use for health authorities and commissioners as well as for providers and
professionals.

General objectives of the European project – as stated in the proposal – were:

• To deliver good practice protocols for central drug treatment modalities

• To improve the quality of drug treatment services (especially to strengthen their
integration and connection to other health care services)

• To assist drug policy decision makers in the implementation or support of drug
treatment facilities und drug service systems according to models of good practice

• To increase the drug treatment know-how

• To support the exchange of good practices in drug treatment

• To enhance a broader access for substance users to effective treatment in Europe

• To improve drug treatment strategies to reach substance users on an earlier stage of
their addiction career to facilitate social integration and health stabilisation

• To establish a system for continuous improvements of European drug treatment

interventions through evidence based recommendations and procedures

Specific objectives of the “Moretreat”-project were:

• To realise a protocol based European inventory of „good practice“ of drug treatment
interventions (guidelines, reviews, meta-analysis) and their effectiveness (treatment
modalities, cost-effectiveness, service-system and relevant cross-cutting issues, e.g.
gender/culture/age-specific) including all 25 European Member States and two EU
candidate countries.

• To develop European evidence based „good practice guidance“ for drug treatment
interventions/modalities.

• To disseminate pro-actively the results to commissioners, service providers and
service users in Europe, and to present models of good practice in existing databases
(e.g. via EMCDDA).

• To develop and disseminate a proposal for a system of regular exchange of protocols
of good practice in drug treatment.

On basis of the different procedures applied in the project mainly the following results
have been expected:

• To carry out reviews of good practice and evidence for different drug treatment
intervention modalities.

• To evaluate the effectiveness of evidence-based interventions for all target
populations.

• To compile good practice protocols for drug treatment interventions in Europe that
are based upon a unified structure.

• To provide a final report on “good practice guidance” for different drug treatment
interventions.

• To propose procedures for establishing a platform for guidance for treatment on a
European level that serves for a continued improvement of drug treatment in the
Member States (sustainability).