This report presents the findings of a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) on the subject of end of life care for people with alcohol and other drug problems. It forms one part of a wider, six strand programme of research exploring this topic.

This strand of the research programme exploring end of life care for people with substance problems set out to answer the following research question:
What does the existing international research and wider literature tell us about current responses to end of life care for people with substance problems?

The question focussed initially on care responses and was broken down further into the following aims:
1. to explore and document the evidence base that already exists on responses to end of life care for people with substance problems,
2. to identify gaps in the evidence relating to focus and methodology,
3. to identify examples of good practice, and
4. to highlight future directions for research.