Best practice definition
‘Best practice is the best application of available evidence to current activities in the drugs field.
This definition was agreed by a group of experts including the Chairman of the EMCDDA Management Board João Goulão; members of the EMCDDA Scientific Committee; policymakers; and top-level researchers in the areas of treatment, prevention and harm reduction.
Best practice portal
The Best practice portal is a resource for professionals, policymakers and researchers in the drug field. We provide information on the available evidence on drug-related prevention, treatment and harm reduction, focusing on the European context. The evidence is compiled following an explicit methodological process, and is presented according to client profiles. The client profiles are designed according to the European data on illicit drug users collected at the EMCDDA. Currently, the ‘profiles’ are organised around the main substance of use. We acknowledge that in reality people often use multiple drugs, and the interventions provided might reflect this. We are therefore working on how best to accommodate this aspect in future. In the portal we also provide an overview of the available quality standards and guidelines in the European Union (EU) Member States.
The portal was developed to respond to the EU drugs action plan (2009–12) and specifically to ‘enhance the quality and effectiveness of drug demand reduction activities, taking account of specific needs of drug users according to gender’. In particular, actions 17 and 19 aimed at exchanging ‘good practice guidelines/quality standards for prevention, treatment, harm reduction and rehabilitation interventions and services’ and ‘to develop an EU consensus on minimum quality standards and benchmarks for prevention, treatment, harm reduction and rehabilitation’.
The portal will be continuously updated as information and research on interventions emerges.
Acknowledgments
Alan Lodwick
Angelina Brotherhood
Artur Malczewski
Ave Tallu
Charlotte Davies
Elias Allara
Fabrizio Faggiano
Franz Trautman
Joao Goulao
John Strang
Laura Amato
Marina Davoli
Marion Weigl
Maurizio Coletti
Michael Farrell
Peer Van der Kreeft
Richard Velleman
Tim Pfeiffer-Gerschel
