Resources

Whether it’s building on the evidence base or developing practice based evidence, we believe our responsibility is to share our learning for the benefit of everyone who uses our services.

I would encourage anybody in the field to download the available resources, connect with the people who were pivotal in that area of work, and begin a conversation. Feedback and collaboration are always welcome, and we know it is critical to improving the quality of our services.

If you don’t find what you’re looking for, have ideas on how we can improve the resources available, or wish to share your own, then please do not hesitate to get in touch."

Dr Prun Bijral - Change Grow Live Medical Director

@DrBijral

Research and reports

Hepatitis C – Impact report (PDF, 202KB)

Despite numerous lockdowns and some severe restrictions throughout 2020/2021, our dedicated Hepatitis C team worked tirelessly to keep the conversation about Hep C active both inside and outside Change Grow Live. As we look to build on the successes of the past year, we will use our experiences and learning from the pandemic to help shape how we move forward in the fight to eliminate Hepatitis C.

How we micro-eliminated hepatitis C in Halton

When we say an area has micro-eliminated hepatitis C, that means it has reached these targets:

  • 100% of people using the service have been offered a hepatitis C test.
  • 90% of these people have then been tested.
  • 75% of people who were diagnosed with hepatitis C have started treatment.

NHS England set these micro-elimination targets, in order to eliminate hepatitis C as a major health concern by 2025. We’ve been working with Gilead Sciences to reach the targets in Change Grow Live services all over the country. Thanks to a lot of hard work from the team, our Halton service has become the second Change Grow Live service to micro-eliminate hepatitis C.

Learning from our mistakes – how medicine errors helped us improve how we do things

Keeping people safe is one of our most important priorities. We have rules and procedures in place to make sure we are helping people in a safe and effective way. However, there are sometimes difficulties with how we prescribe medications and how we communicate with our pharmacy partners. This can have an impact on people who use our services.

To make sure we’re always improving and learning from mistakes, the drug and alcohol team at Spectrum Drug and Alcohol Recovery Services looked at 65 prescribing errors that had taken place over 3 months. We explored why they happened, and how to stop them happening again. 

Craving in opioid dependence

'Time-dependent neuronal changes associated with craving in opioid dependence: an fMRI study' was recently published in Addiction Biology. Change Grow Live's Medical Director, Dr Prun Bijral, contributed to the article, as well as Dr Anna Murphy.

Medication assisted treatment toolkit

Medication-assisted treatments (MAT) for opioid dependence save lives. Our frontline staff use this toolkit to guide all aspects of MAT in our services. If you think it could improve your working practice, please take a look.

Fentanyl report and action plan (PDF, 472KB)

In September 2017 Change Grow Live and Volteface convened a ‘round table’ to discuss responses to the growing threat posed by fentanyl and its analogues. Fentanyls have similar effects to heroin but are much more toxic and even a small amount of a fentanyl in a heroin 'hit' can be deadly.

The round table followed reports of at least 60 deaths linked to fentanyls in England and Wales in the previous eight months and Change Grow Live’s direct experience of managing outbreaks of fentanyl-related overdose deaths in two areas in England.

This report details the findings from the day which are informing Change Grow Live’s strategic response to fentanyls. The report includes:

  • Key themes discussed
  • Conclusions
  • Recommendations including a three point response plan for services, commissioners and partners.

Implementation of computer-assisted therapy for substance misuse

This paper explores the adoption and implementation of computer-assisted therapy (CAT) using Breaking Free Online (BFO) in our services with people who are affected by drugs and alcohol dependence.

Using the Transtheoretical Model to Explore the Impact of Peer Mentoring on Peer Mentors' Own Recovery from Substance Misuse

Our peer mentors use their experiences to help others make positive changes. Many of our peer mentors are in recovery or have used one of our services in the past. Others have helped a loved one through their journey. This study aimed to explore the potential therapeutic impact of this role on peer mentors' recovery from substance misuse.

Achieving digital health sustainability

There are lots of challenges with digital health innovations and sustainability. Finding an approach to overcome these challenges is important to help society benefit from these new approaches to healthcare. Working with Breaking Free Online, we have enhanced our focus on digital technologies in substance misue recovery. 

Associations between participant characteristics, digital intervention engagement and recovery outcomes for participants accessing Breaking Free Online at Change Grow Live

Breaking Free Online (BFO) is delivered within our services to support people in recovery from substance misuse. This paper reports baseline data from people using BFO in our services, and the post-treatment outcomes.