Barriers to Recovery from Substance Misuse in Dorset
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Barriers to Recovery from Substance Misuse in Dorset
IRAS ID
157698
Contact name
Martin Whiteford
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liverpool
Research summary
Figures obtained from Dorset DAAT show that 500 individuals are currently in receipt of a substitute prescribing regime, and of those 219 have been engaged in their current treatment episode for 4 or more years. There are several hypotheses which may explain this behaviour. One hypothesis is that some long-term opiate users become demoralised, have little sense that change is possible, and have few limited aspirations – they become ‘stuck’ in a cycle of low expectations. It is also possible that some people use treatment, not as a path to change, but as a way of sustaining a drug-using lifestyle. It has long been recognised that people enter treatment (and leave treatment) based on estimating the particular short-term advantages and disadvantages of doing so (Gerstein & Harwood, 1990).
The proposed study will therefore aim to critically explore barriers to recovery from substance misuse in Dorset. It will then go on to consider how local commissioners and service providers can foster recovery and reintegration. This will be achieved by means of a mixed methods study requiring the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data. In addition to fieldwork, we will also undertake analysis of quantitative data on patterns of service treatment engagement.
Key outcomes of the research will include in-depth explorations of the views and aspirations of long-term opiate users. In pursuing a user-centred approach in this way the study will seek to identify some of most salient cultural, emotional, institutional and material factors that structure and shape recovery pathways. These insights and observations will be situated within the broader context of stakeholder interviews. Engaging with key stakeholders will provide a critical portal through which to better comprehend the way in which statutory and third sector organisations in Dorset interpret and respond to the ‘recovery agenda’. By focusing on the interplay between ‘recovery’ and ‘localism’ the study will also allow for provisional conclusions to be drawn about how the shift in responsibility for commissioning alcohol and drug services is being experienced and perceived by service users and service providers across Dorset. Overall the study will seek to provide new insights and policy recommendations to Dorset DAAT about how treatment services and partner agencies can actively collaborate to tackle existing barriers to recovery and, in doing so, begin to purposefully foster ‘recover capital’ (White, 2007: Cloud & Granfield, 2008).
REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/SW/1003
Date of REC Opinion
2 Sep 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion