Clinical guidelines for the management of cannabis use disorder
NDARC Staff
Amie Frewen and Jan Copeland
Rationale
The philosophy of evidence-based practice is based upon the notion that clinical practice should be guided by a hierarchy of research evidence in addition to clinical consensus, and the formulation of evidence-based clinical guidelines is a basic tenet of this approach to practice. Such guidelines are grounded in the best available research gathered from a systematic review of the literature, and the levels of evidence are graded. In the area of cannabis use, there is a particularly strong case for developing evidence-based guidelines given the inconsistency of clinical practice and the paucity of research evidence.
Aims
To develop clinical guidelines for the management of cannabis use disorder.
Design and Method
Using the 'Kettil Brrun' method of reaching clinical consensus, the process involves three stages:
- A ‘trigger paper’ that reviews the literature.
- A ‘discussant paper’ that assesses the trigger paper and begins to develop recommendations for turning the evidence into clinical practice.
- A reference group that reads both the trigger paper and discussant paper and meets to discuss and develop consensus on the guidelines in a workshop format.
Progress
A project manager was employed in September 2007 and various methods for developing clinical guidelines for the project were researched. The ‘Kettil Brrun’ method was agreed upon and key areas for the guidelines were subsequently defined by the working group. The working group also identified key experts in the cannabis field who were approached to write trigger and discussant papers in eight key areas. The papers were completed by April 2008 and a workshop of international and national delegates was convened in May to review the background papers and develop the direction of the clinical guidelines, resulting in a first draft of the guidelines that was circulated amongst the workshop delegates for comment. The first full draft of the guidelines will be circulated amongst delegates in October 2008
Benefits
Clinicians will have access to evidence-based interventions for cannabis use disorder
Funding
Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing