Creating readiness for implementing the Dala Model - Municipal outpatient substance use treatment in Dalarna

This planning contribution will be used to prepare the soil for the intended project that will implement the Dala Model for substance use treatment in municipal outpatient centers in Dalarna.

The Dala Model is a highly structured recovery-oriented model for substance use treatment that uses a combination of evidence-based interventions. It includes motivational interviewing that underscores the importance of a non-judgmental stance towards the client.

It places no demands with regards to abstinence but rewards the client with a voucher worth 200kr for attendance at every other session which increases to 500kr if they become abstinent.

As such, it is a treatment model that is very different from interventions offered today that often uses direct or implicit coercion and control and mostly focus on abstinence.

Attempting to implement a treatment model that so fundamentally changes the approach to treatment demands attention to the process of implementation.

During this planning project the aims are to establish collaboration with and define the roles and responsibilities of participating treatment centers, user organizations and collaborating researchers from Aarhus University.

Moreover, to ensure practice and user expertise and involvement in defining the treatment model, input from participating treatment centers and user organizations will be used in adapting the Dala Model to ensure that it fits within the organizations that are to deliver it and with the individuals who are to receive it.

During the planning project, interviews will be conducted with the participating treatment centers to assess their readiness to implement the model and the results will be used in designing a sustainable implementation plan for the intended project.

An application for ethical approval of the intended project will also be produces and the results from the planning project will be used to write an application to Fortes National Applied Welfare Research Program.