About the project
The purpose of the project is to evaluate the implementation of revised national guidelines for opioid agonist treatment (OAT) for opioid dependence, which were launched in mid-2022.
The project will evaluate aspects of the implementation of the revised guidelines, such as the clinicians' knowledge of the guidelines and clinical practice, treatment outcomes, such as user involvement, patient satisfaction and prescription of benzodiazepines.
The Directorate of Health also wishes that unintended consequences of the revised guidelines are identified early, so that adjustments can be made if necessary. The evaluation project consists of several studies, using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
Patients, clinicians, and service user organisations will be invited to participate. The project is funded by the Norwegian Directorate of Health, and the project period is 1. January 2022 to 31. December 2024.
Background
Compared with the old guidelines, the new guidelines place greater emphasis on patients' involvement in their treatment.
While the previous guidelines primarily highlighted the information aspect of user participation, patients' involvement in decision-making processes is now emphasised more explicitly.
In general, treatment staff there is increased focus on clinicians’ individual assessments, for example in the choice of OAT medication, dosage, drug testing, and dispensing scheme.
Furthermore, dialogue is highlighted as an important tool in the way forward for OAT.
Objectives
We have the following targets for the evaluation:
- Assessing the impact of the OAT guidelines for clinical practice:
- Are the OAT guidelines implemented as intended?
- Is there local variation in how the OAT guidelines are implemented?
- How do clinicians in OAT apply the new OAT guidelines?
- How do patients in OAT experience the new OAT guidelines?
- How is benzodiazepine prescription approached?
- Assessing the impact of the OAT guidelines for treatment outcomes:
- Patient satisfaction and user involvement in OAT
- Patients' perceived treatment burden in OAT, including physical and mental health
- Diversion of OAT medications
- Planned cessation of OAT
Funding
- Norwegian Directorate of Health
Publications
The results of the evaluation will be published in reports to the Norwegian Directorate of Health and in professional and research articles.