The core members of the Global Recovery Task Force met in Madrid from 8-11 October 2023 to jointly review and refine initial draft of the Global Position Paper on Recovery drafted by the research team: David Best, Mulka Nisic, David Patton, Boro Goic. The gathering was sponsored by RUN and hosted by the Association Proyecto Hombre.
This paper emerged from a collaborative process sparked by discussions at the CND annual session in Vienna in March 2023. Our approach focused on fostering co-production and adopting a unified, evidence-based, and comprehensive perspective on the definition and understanding of recovery. To gather insights, a survey was circulated among key international groups, networks, and actors, resulting in 49 completed surveys. Thematic analysis was applied to these responses and a core group convened in Madrid to refine the initial draft further.
The core team responsible for refining the initial draft in consisted of representatives from global networks and organizations, including:
- Association Proyecto Hombre
- Recovered Users Network
- Dalgarno Institute
- Dianova International
- Association of Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers of Macau
- University of Derby
- World Federation of Therapeutic Communities
- World Federation Against Drugs
- International Substance Abuse and Addiction Coalition
- Euro TC
- SEIRIOS
Following this, the paper will undergo a robust global review, and a rigorous review and endorsement by a team of senior academics: Brandon Bergman, Emily Hennessy, John Kelly, Wouter Vanderplaschen, and William White. Subsequently, the final version of the paper will be disseminated widely for endorsement.
This collaborative endeavor revealed a worldwide consensus on the objectives and essence of recovery, distilled into three pillars: 1) strengths; 2) barriers; and 3) systems essential to maximizing the positive impact of strengths on individuals and communities while concurrently mitigating barriers. These pillars will serve as the cornerstone for our upcoming action plan.
