Interventions for the management of substance use disorders: an overview

For the past 50 years, there has been a systematic effort to expand and improve treatment services for individuals with substance use disorders by developing an evidence base to guide practice. This policy brief aims to review the available interventions for the management of substance use disorders, examine the evidence base for these interventions, including the WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme intervention guide, and make recommendations related to the treatment of substance use disorders. In the development of this policy brief, numerous documents were reviewed. The WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme intervention guide offers the most well synthesized summary of interventions that have evidence of support, clinical acceptance, extensive implementation and expert consensus. The recommendations within this policy brief incorporate the core recommendations on substance use disorder elements included in the mhGAP intervention guide.