On 12 November 2018, the Department of Health’s Drugs Policy Unit and the Health Research Board (HRB) will host the first annual National Drugs Forum in the Aviva Stadium.

The objectives of the forum are:

• To support evidence-informed practice and service delivery
• To promote participation of communities, service users, and their families in national structures
• To strengthen the implementation and performance of the national drugs strategy.

The theme for the forum is Working better together by developing communities of practice. This event aims to strengthen the capacity of existing communities of practice and to provide examples for collaborative working across the statutory, community, and voluntary sectors.

The forum will feature two keynote presentations from international experts, followed by four parallel workshops. Dr Karen Minyard from Georgia Health Policy Center in Georgia State University will speak on the centre’s recent evidence review on dual diagnosis and will describe how communities of practices can be effective vehicles for transferring evidence into practical work. Professor Harry Sumnall of Liverpool John Moores University will examine the evidence base for interventions in the prevention and social reintegration field. Both are internationally renowned scholars with vast experience in policy development and knowledge transfer.

Workshops

The following four workshops will take place:

1    Supporting prevention work in the community.

2    Dual diagnosis: using partnership and peer support as resources in treatment.

3    The role of social reintegration in recovery.

4    Harm reduction services: engaging with people who use drugs.

A report on the forum will identify the key message from each of these workshops and suggest ways of developing communities of practices and learning from ongoing work in each of these areas throughout the country.