McGuire, Vivion (2008) MQI annual review 2007. Drugnet Ireland, Issue 28, Winter 2008, p. 22.
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The Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI) annual review for 2007 was launched by Minister of State with responsibility for drugs strategy Mr John Curran TD on 12 September 2008.1
MQI’s needle-exchange service recorded that the number of client visits in 2007 remained steady at just under 40,000; however 1,333 of those visits were by new clients. The report also highlights a continuing high level of demand for homeless services, with an 11% increase in the number of meals provided for homeless people and a 33% increase in the numbers seeking help from MQI’s primary health care services
The review describes the national prison-based addiction counselling service introduced in 2007 and run by MQI in partnership with the Irish Prison Service. The service offers structured assessments and evidence-based counselling interventions with clearly defined treatment plans and goals. This occurs in the context of care planning within multidisciplinary teams. By December of 2007 MQI was providing 400 counselling hours per month within the prisons. When fully operational, the service will provide 1,000 counselling hours per month in 13 prisons nationally.
The types of service offered by MQI and the numbers of people accessing them in 2007 are shown below.
Service
|
Type of intervention
|
No. of participants
|
Outcomes
|
Needle-exchange and health-promotion services
|
Promoting safer injecting techniques
HIV and hepatitis prevention
Safe sex advice
Information on overdose
|
Not available
(1,333 new clients)
606 safer injecting workshops
|
Not available
|
Stabilisation services
|
Methadone substitution
Supportive day programmes
Gateway programme
Counselling
|
30
17
48 (monthly average)
Not available
|
Not available
Not available
Not available
Not available
|
Settlement service
|
Assist service users to access interim and long-term accommodation
|
52 (monthly average)
|
36 people were successfully settled
|
Integration programmes
|
Access to transitional accommodation (Ballymount House) for up to 24 weeks
Group and one-to-one therapeutic sessions
|
15
|
Not available
|
Training and work programmes
|
FÁS Community Employment scheme
|
130
|
45% secured permanent employment or moved to further education
|
Catering training programme
|
Not available
|
Not available
|
|
High Park
|
17-week, drug-free residential programme including individual counselling, group therapy, educational groups, work assignments and recreational activities
|
52 (of whom 20 were admitted for detoxification)
|
16 completed detox
|
St Francis Farm
|
Therapeutic facility offering a 6–12-month programme
|
54
|
17 completed three months or more
|
Item Type
Article
Publication Type
Irish-related, Open Access, Article
Drug Type
All substances
Intervention Type
Harm reduction
Issue Title
Issue 28, Winter 2008
Date
2008
Page Range
p. 22
Publisher
Health Research Board
Volume
Issue 28, Winter 2008
EndNote
Accession Number
HRB (Available)
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