Identification of barriers and facilitators to cannabis treatment

NDARC Staff

Jan Copeland, Peter Gates, Stephanie Taplin, Greg Martin, Wendy Swift

Rationale

Given the under-representation of individuals with cannabis related problems in specialist treatment services, and the levels of problems they are experiencing by the time they enter treatment, it is vital to identify factors that act as barriers to treatment seeking and those influences that facilitate entry into treatment. Policy and clinical practices that address these issues will promote earlier entry to treatment and a reduction in cannabis related harms for individuals, their families and the Australian community.

Aims

The aims of the project are to examine barriers and facilitators to entry into cannabis treatment in Australia from the perspectives of cannabis users in treatment, cannabis users in the community, and their families.

Design and Method

The study design will have 4 components:

1. Examination of the published research literature on the facilitators and barriers to treatment entry into illicit drug treatment in general, and cannabis treatment in particular, to inform development of the survey instrument. This will be presented as a brief literature review of 2,500 words.
2. The conduct of a face to face survey of a total of 100 adolescents and adults in cannabis treatment in the Greater Sydney area. No more than 20% of the sample will have co-morbid dependence on other drugs.
3. The conduct of a face to face survey of 100 adults and adolescents in the greater Sydney community stratified by levels of cannabis use (50 being daily or near daily users in the past 3 months and 50 being weekly or more frequent users in that time period). No more than 20% of the sample will have co-morbid dependence on other drugs.
4. The conduct of two secure on-line surveys on the NDARC and UNSW website that will target families of cannabis users, who may have attempted to gain access to treatment for their family members, and frequent cannabis users across Australia, for their views of the barriers and facilitators into treatment and information sources.

   Benefits

   
   

The findings from this study will assist in formulating policy and clinical practices that address issues related to barriers and facilitators into cannabis treatment. These new policies and practices should, in turn, promote earlier entry to treatment and a reduction in cannabis related harms for individuals, their families and the Australian community.

This project relates to NDARC’s goal to increase knowledge on the range and effectiveness of treatment and other interventions that are aimed at reducing forms of alcohol and other drug related harm.

Output

The project has presented findings to a number of national and international conferences. The final report and technical report have been approved and published. Peer reviewed journal articles will be submitted.

Funding

Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing