Outcome Measurement and Evaluation as a Routine practice in alcohol and other drug services in Belgium (BE)

The OMER-BE project addresses the topic on ‘effectiveness and efficiency of specialised drug services’ in the project call (Research priority 2: Responses to the drug situation). The primary aim of the project is to set up and implement a methodology for systematically measuring patientreported outcomes (PROMs) and experiences (PREMs), based on a recent and internationally validated tool (ICHOM Standard Set for Addictions). As a secondary aim, we will use thismethodology for a preliminary investigation of the effectiveness of Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) services and its mediators among a large sample of adult AOD service users in Belgium. The findings of the study will give service providers a benchmark for comparing and improving AOD services and will provide policy makers with relevant information on ‘what works’ for (specific populations with) substance use problems. Recommendations resulting from this study willimprove the quality of AOD services and will contribute to the further establishment of an integral and integrated drug policy in Belgium, based on sound and internationally comparable scientific evidence. At the end of the study, the applied tool/methodology can be routinely integrated in the monitoring and evaluation procedures of AOD services and/or data-collection processes of governmental agencies (e.g. TDI-protocol).The project network is clearly interdisciplinary and gender-balanced, with partners from the fields of psychology & educational sciences (UGent), medicine & psychiatry (VUB) and public health & sociology (Sciensano), who all have extensive experience in addiction research and clinical practice. The network will collaborate closely with emeritus professor Wim van den Brink (Amsterdam University Medical Centre), one of the leading European experts in addiction research for the past 20 years, who is involved in the development of the ICHOM standards. Therefore, this strong network of researchers will be able to perform this study according to the highest scientific standards and latest international developments in health outcomes and AOD research.