EWS. Towards a Nordic Model of Dual Diagnosis Treatment: A Social Network Approach to Recovery-oriented Services

The explorative workshops in this application are the result of a wish to support partnerships between Nordic countries regarding network approaches to the provision of recovery-oriented services for individuals suffering from co-existing mental illness a nd substance use disorders. The workshops will bring together for the first time Nordic researchers working on social network interventions, recovery-oriented services and dual diagnosis treatments. It is estimated that over 100 000 persons in the Nordic countries suffer from some combination of mental illness and substance abuse. Historically, people with a co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder have often fallen between different treatment services. Recovery-oriented services based on n etwork approaches may allow for major improvements towards effective, integrated care of this patient group. A recovery approach includes the understanding that despite the personal distress of mental health problems and substance abuse at the individual level, recovery is very much a social process and that by mobilizing resources in the patients social network it is possible to bridge the social barriers of stigma and discrimination and regain the role of a 'healthy' person. Research on dual diagnosis treatment is predominantly of North American and English origin. Therefore differences in policy and organisation of treatment make it difficult to compare and apply these results to the Nordic countries. Also between the Nordic countries differences in policy and administration involve underlying assumptions about the patients' course of illness and chances of recovery in ways which can only be exposed in comparative studies. More collaboration between the Nordic countries is therefore needed with regar ds to research exchange and research projects across borders.