The National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) commissioned the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at the University of Glasgow to design a protocol for a cohort study examining rehabilitation among Irish substance misusers.

This report has two key elements; a review of the literature and the proposed study designs. The literature review focuses on previous cohort studies involving samples of substances misusers from representative treatment modalities. These key longitudinal studies examined treatment effectiveness through the measurement of various outcomes related to recovery. The review also examines duration of treatment; its relationship with positive outcomes and the identification of optimum length of stay for different treatment modalities as well as examining rehabilitation focussed studies.

The second section of the report discusses the definition of rehabilitation and how best to evaluate rehabilitation in Ireland. The research team have presented a number of possible cohort study designs:

-Enhanced version of ROSIE focussing on rehabilitation outcomes
-Sample ex‑clients and assess their progress to rehabilitation
-Systemic evaluation of rehabilitation
-Combined systemic evaluation and ex‑client assessment
-Multiple mini‑cohorts focussing on rehabilitation oriented services
-Virtual mapping

The advantages and challenges related to each possible design are discussed in turn. Following discussions with the NACD the most promising study design was selected and is discussed in the conclusion of the report.