Community detoxification protocols: benzodiazepines.

These protocols outline minimum medical and psycho-social supports to be provided to a service user engaging in community detox. The protocols are in line with national strategic documents such as the Introduction of the Opioid Treatment Protocol (HSE, 2010), and the National Drug Rehabilitation Framework (Doyle & Ivanovic, 2010) as well as international literature on good practice service provision detailed in the Community Detox Literature Review 2. It should be noted that these protocols outline agreed minimum standards for the delivery of interagency community detox support. The minimum standards in short are: • Interagency care planning: Care planning takes into account all factors that may negatively impact on a service user’s capacity to engage in a successful detox such as housing or family matters, as well as those which may promote success such as meaningful use of time and social supports. • Relapse prevention: Structured sessions aim to provide service users with a skills and knowledge base around drug use, risk and relapse. • Medical supports: Regular medical appointments are provided to supervise the detox. The doctor agrees to engage in interagency communications with the key worker regarding service user progress and in particular, any change to the initial detox schedule or care plan