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Problem solving courts are a result of the therapeutic jurisprudence movement. Drug treatment courts (DTCs), for instance, aim to divert substance using offenders away from the criminal justice system (CJS) to (drug) treatment services. DTCs are associated with reduced criminal offending and substance use. Psychosocial outcomes of DTCs, such as employment, health and family relations, received only little attention. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper focuses on the outcomes regarding substance use and psychosocial variables of a Belgian DTC situated in the Ghent region, which were investigated by a naturalistic evaluation study with a pre- post-design using judicial files.

The results show that Ghent DTC clients were diverted to drug treatment and financial counselling services. Next the Ghent DTC produced beneficial outcomes regarding employment. Contrary to criminal offending (De Keulenaer and Thomaes, 2013), substance use was not significantly reduced in the Ghent DTC sample. Yet more compliance with opioid maintenance treatment was observed. Information on more client centred outcomes such as health and social relations was lacking, precluding a full outcome measurement of psychosocial variables.

Future DTC studies should address more client centreed outcomes by gathering information through DTC clients and treatment services instead of solely relying on judicial data sources. In addition, DTCs should develop a clear and uniform registration system regarding these outcomes.

Since the therapeutic jurisprudence movement continues to expand, discussion regarding the roles and tasks of the CJS as well as treatment and counselling services is vital. Each actor should maintain its own role and task, regarding monitoring and substantive work, to insure a “problem solving approach” that is in line with the recovery philosophy.

It is difficult to replicate evidence-informed models of psychosocial and assertive care interventions in non-research settings, and means to determine workforce capability for psychosocial therapies have not been readily available. The purpose of this paper is to describe and provide a rationale for the Therapy Capability Framework (TCF) which aims to enhance access to, and quality of, evidence-informed practice for consumers of mental health services (MHSs) by strengthening workforce capabilities and leadership for psychosocial therapies.

Guided by literature regarding the inadequacies and inconsistencies of evidence-informed practice provided by publicly-funded MHSs, this descriptive paper details the TCF and its application to enhance leadership and provision of evidence-informed psychosocial therapies within multi-disciplinary teams.

The TCF affords both individual and strategic workforce development opportunities. Applying the TCF as a service-wide workforce strategy may assist publicly-funded mental health leaders, and other speciality health services, establish a culture that values leadership, efficiency, and evidence-informed practice.

This paper introduces the TCF as an innovation to assist publicly-funded mental health leaders to transform standard case management roles to provide more evidence-informed psychosocial therapies. This may have clinical and cost-effective outcomes for public MHSs, the consumers, carers, and family members.

One hundred and seventy‐eight heroin addicts in reformatory school were sent to one of two rehabilitation treatments: reform through education and labour and therapeutic community (TC)‐based rehabilitation programme. After six months of being discharged, pre‐ and post‐treatment scores on the Addiction Severity Index were compared, and relapse related factors were investigated. Results indicated improvements in both treatments, with the TC‐based rehabilitation programme showing superior improvement overall. Results support the efficacy of the TC‐based rehabilitation programme proving it to be better than reform through labour and education. It is suggested that psychosocial intervention and relapse prevention should be emphasised in the treatment of drug dependence.

Empirical evidence suggests that a complex relationship exists between substance misuse, mental illness and violence in forensic populations. Therefore, effective treatment and intervention is essential in order for this population to live a life free from substance use and offending behaviour. This paper discusses the literature related to interventions for dual diagnosis and how this may be related to mentally disordered offenders. The paper also highlights paucities in the literature where further research is needed to inform practice, and concludes with current recommendations for best practice.

The purpose of this paper is to describe non-specialised, group-based interventions in displaced populations from reviewed literature, and to explore their outcomes.

A literature review was conducted using the PubMed database, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews, and defined “grey literature”. Characteristics of the interventions were summarised into a table under key categories such as targeted persons, study setting, level of evidence, outcome measures, assessment tools used and summary of results.

In total, 11 articles were identified stemming from nine separate interventions. Three of these were considered level 1 evidence as they were randomised controlled trials. The described interventions were markedly heterogeneous in nature and produced diverse findings. There were noted methodological issues in the majority of interventions reviewed.

This original research has demonstrated clear need for research that uses robust methodology accounting for the complex and challenging nature of this context.

This report concerns itself with the process of change that has been underway in the city of Salford, concerning the adoption of a recovery‐oriented system of care. The paper contains the observations of the lead commissioner for drug treatment in Salford on the process of this change. The paper is influenced by William White's perspectives on recovery in Philadelphia and makes observations on their application in the British context. Finally, there is some discussion of whether this recovery approach constitutes a ‘paradigm change’ in UK drug policy. The information provided in this paper was gathered between January 2009 and July 2010. The methods included 12 initial unstructured interviews with service users self‐defined as ‘in recovery’, combined with two focus groups with seven service users and six members of staff. This initial work was then supplemented with three further focus groups conducted during the summer of 2009, involving 23 front line staff during the summer and autumn of 2009 and 52 consumer satisfaction questionnaires conducted prior to Christmas 2009. A further 40 semi‐structured interviews with service users who self‐defined as being in recovery were also concluded during the spring and summer of 2010.

The psycho-oncology and social work services recognised that a cancer diagnosis and treatment can result in considerable emotional consequences for patients, yet the referral rate to both services was extremely low. Only very visibly distressed patients were being referred to the service. The “Distress Thermometer” (DT), a distress screening tool, was introduced as a pilot project with day care and inpatient oncology patients of St Vincent ' s University Hospital, Dublin, in an effort to improve the identification, management and treatment of psychological distress in oncology patients. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of this new intervention.

The Psycho-oncology service in conjunction with the Medical Social Work Department and Nursing Management at St Vincent ' s University Hospital, Dublin, initiated a Distress Education Management and Training Programme (DEMP). The initiative involved providing a training programme for oncology nursing staff and the introduction of a distress-screening tool for patients. In 1998, the DT was developed and validated for evaluation of distress (and depression) in cancer. It was adopted into recommendations made by the US National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The DT is a simple, self-report, pencil and paper measure consisting of a line with a 0-10 scale anchored at the zero point with “No distress” and at scale point ten with “Extreme distress”. Patients are given the instruction, “How distressed have you been during the past week on a scale of 0-10”? Patients indicated their level of distress with a mark on the scale. Patients scoring 4 or above were regarded as requiring intervention. The DT includes a problem checklist. The patient is asked to identify those problems from the checklist which are contributing to their score. The use of the DT was evaluated through interviews with patients and professionals.

Patients who scored four or above (38 per cent of patients), were seen by the Oncology Social Worker for psychosocial assessment and mental health triage. Patients who scored above a certain level (usually above 12/20) in the clinical range on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (3 per cent) were referred to Psycho-oncology. That 38 per cent of oncology patients required intervention from a specialist service accurately reflects international findings on the rate of distress among cancer patients.

Assessment of cancer patients ' distress levels in a structured and planned manner with a Distress Thermometer, as recommended by best international practice, works very effectively and should be considered for all cancer out-patients This will have implications in terms of staff that will be required to manage such a service.

This was the first time that this internationally recognised tool was used to such an extent and to positive effect in an Irish context.

This article aims to illustrate how service organizations (e.g. cancer resource centers) can create restorative servicescapes. The article addresses whether cancer patients respond favorably to a cancer center's restorative servicescape and explores the reasons they might patronize the center and interact socially with others.

This article synthesizes various streams of literature from services marketing, natural psychology, and cancer and medical research. The study defines and develops the framework's categories and advances propositions based on the framework.

The model proposes that cancer patients should respond favorably to a cancer center's restorative servicescape. By spending time in the center, people living with cancer may be able to remedy four frequently experienced, negative symptoms associated with fatigue.

The study explores a not‐for‐profit cancer resource center that offers members an array of participatory activities within a homelike environment. However, it may be difficult for traditional medical facilities to fashion restorative servicescapes.

The study helps inform medical practitioners about the psychosocial benefits cancer resource centers offer cancer patients. This article provides a discussion regarding a cancer center's development of its Connect‐to‐Care program, based on an oncologist and a cancer center representative joining together to discuss a patient's cancer diagnosis and care.

This article proposes a theoretical understanding on how the physical and restorative qualities of an environment transform human health. It links the services domain to the health sciences and suggests a means by which cancer patients can “do more with less” by combining medical treatment with cancer resource center patronage.

The model of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) in the United States has (for better or for worse) influenced the development of MMT elsewhere. This paper sheds light on the origins and progression of MMT and its application today. This perspective may prove helpful to persons and agencies attempting to develop MMT or whose MMT programmes are being subject to ever‐increasing restrictions. The demographics, social and economic risk factors, impact of poly‐substance use and co‐occurring psychiatric disorders (dual diagnosis), and existing evidence supporting dosing and therapeutic interventions in MMT are reviewed and illustrated with a case study.

The purpose of this paper is to inform the development of an evidence-based and effective rehabilitation programme to address substance use disorders in a population of patients with severe mental illness and mental disorders detained in a secure forensic psychiatric facility. A clinical review identified a high prevalence of substance use disorders in the patient population at a secure forensic facility in Sydney, Australia with only a limited number of patients being assessed and offered interventions for substance use problems.

A literature review was undertaken specifically looking at articles between 2009 and 2017 that considered models of care or approaches to substance use rehabilitation in patients with co-morbid psychiatric disorders. Articles were considered based on their relevance to the purpose and the environment of a secure forensic facility.

The literature review emphasised the need for a cohesive model of care integrating substance use rehabilitation with mental health care. Comprehensive assessment and individualised approaches that incorporated patient choice and stages of change were considered essential components to any dual diagnosis rehabilitation programme.

The literature regarding rehabilitation approaches for those with severe mental illness and co-morbid substance use disorders was reasonably consistent with the models of care used in relation to criminal offenders and mental illness generally. Integrated and individualised rehabilitation approaches for dual diagnosis patients could play a significant role in forensic settings.

Limited robust evidence for substance use rehabilitation has been published. The authors consider the existing evidence base and the underlying theory behind substance use rehabilitation to propose a model for rehabilitation in secure forensic settings. This is the first known review of substance use rehabilitation involving mentally ill offenders with dual diagnoses in secure forensic settings. This paper is the original work of the authors.