Social services in substance abuse treatment

This is the main report in a series of reports about the role of social services in substance abuse treatment in Denmark. This series is based on a comprehensive survey carried out in the period December 2007 to May 2009. The study was commissioned and funded by the National Board of Social Services.
This report provides an overview over the different types of treatment available to Danish substance abusers. The survey deals with several issues, e.g. what treatment programmes are offered by the social services to substance abusers and what methods are applied by the treatment centres.
One of the conclusions in the report is that approximately 50% of substance abusers are on low-intensity treatment programmes offered by the social services. That is they are in contact with treatment professionals less than once every two weeks, and some substance abusers have even less contact to their treatment professional. Furthermore the survey also reveals that a significant proportion of substance abusers have mental, social and physical problems, and that the majority of substance abusers feel that they are not receiving adequate help to deal with their problems.
The researchers responsible for the survey recommend several ways of improving substance abuse treatment programmes offered by the social services, e.g. more treatment and more sessions with a psychologist. However, the researchers also emphasise that the treatment professionals need better training.