1. TWO EVALUATIONS IN SLOVENIA,
HOW MUCH OF THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS WERE IMPLEMENTED ?
doc. dr. Nino Rode
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social work
EMCDDA Reitox Academy on the evaluation of national drug strategies and action plans,
Lisboa, June 17th – 18th 2010

2. Introduction: what I will talk about
Presenting the two evaluations
Evaluation of the National Strategy and Interministerial Coordination in the Field of Illicit Dugs
Evaluation of Substitution Maintenance Programmes in Slovenia 2007
What was said and what was heard

3. Evaluation of the National Strategy and Interministerial Coordination in the Field of Illicit Dugs
Methodology
Critical comparative analysis of content of EU Strategy on Drugs 2005 – 2012 and Resolution on the National Programme on Illicit Dugs :
Thematic analysis of the EU strategy: (re)identifying the main themes
Comparison of the ReNPID with the EU strategy: similarities and differencies
Overview of the implementation and its problems:
Interviews and focus groups with the key stakeholders in the field

4. Evaluation of the National Strategy and Interministerial Coordination in the Field of Illicit Dugs
Results: Comparison of the EU strategy on Drugs 2005 – 2012 and Resolution on the National Programme on Illicit Dugs
EU:
Explicit values,
International conventions (explicitly listed),
Need for different points of view (policy, health, research...),
Goals sistematical, objectives operationalised, measurability
Reponsibility clear (responsible bodies defined)
ReNPID:
Principles,
International conventions (mentioned),
principle of evenhanded treatment,
goals interlaced, objectives NOT operationalised, NO MENTION of measurement of the OBJECTIVES
Reponsibility UNCLEAR (responsible bodies NOT defined)

5. Evaluation of the National Strategy and Interministerial Coordination in the Field of Illicit Dugs
Results:
ReNPID
A patchwork of the texts prepared by different ministries:
The same goals are set in different parts of the document, Different goals are interlaced and merged
Responsibility is not determined
There is no action plan
High retorical value – low practical value
Initiated new programmes – low infrastructural support

6. Evaluation of the National Strategy and Interministerial Coordination in the Field of Illicit Dugs
Results:
Implementation:
There is no Action plan
No governmental coordinator
Coordination should be made by the ministers themselves (declaration of very high priority)
The ministers „don't have time“ (nothing is decided realy)
Problems with programmes exceding the competency of one ministry (low cooperation)
Low exchange of data, low quality of the data

7. Evaluation of the National Strategy and Interministerial Coordination in the Field of Illicit Dugs
Recommendations:
Find an equilibrium in financing (efficient resource allocation)
More coordination
Improve quality of information and information exchange
Secure equal coverage by the services in whole country

8. Evaluation of Substitution Maintenance Programmes in Slovenia
Original goals
quality of services delivered (including client satisfaction)‏
the cost-effectiveness of the programme, assessing the input (human resource, financial) – output (client numbers, interventions / services) relation
the impact of the programme on clients, assessing the development of a selection of clients in a specified time interval staring at the time they enter the programme

9. Evaluation of Substitution Maintenance Programmes in Slovenia
Ideas how to do it
Collecting context information from key stakeholders
Including force field analysis to reflect highly politicised debate/surroundings in Slovenia
Impact on clients: discussing the option of retrospective analysis

10. Evaluation of Substitution Maintenance Programmes in Slovenia
Adaptations
Turn cost-effectiveness into an analysis of the (efficiency of the) system
Focus on organisational structure, financing system, client numbers, staff number and structure, etc.
Desk research
Interviews
Add comparison of Slovenian practice against a selection of reference countries

11. Evaluation of Substitution Maintenance Programmes in Slovenia
Recommendations:
Staff
find a structural solution for the limited staff capacity especially for psycho-social support, counselling and other additional services
Patients
Improve coverage and decrease travelling time to the centres
Internal organisation
Improve data collection (computers)
Staff and resource use should be under control of the SMTC heads
External organisation
Improve (almost nonexisting) political responsibility, auditing and control
More cooperation and coordination between different treatment and care services

12. What was said and what was heard
Lack of coordination on the higher levels
Lack of cooperation between:
the ministries
different types of servicies
Need to improve
financing
auditing and monitoring
coveage
Device a concrete action plan with measureble and achievable goals and operationalised actions
Develop services more in line with the needs of their users

13. What was said and what was heard
What was heard (from The basis for the preparation of the National programme on drugs in Slovenia – draft):
About the Substitution maintainance programmes:
„Evaluation shown that the substitution maintainment treatment in Slovenia is well organised compared to other EU countries,treatment availability is good, there is no waiting time, working time of the centres is appropriate, and there is no additional criteria for inclusion in the treatment that would hamper the availability.“
About the ReNPID:
„In main lines the National programme is well coordinated with the EU strategy
The National programme is an important refference point for all the actors in this field in Republic Slovenia – professionals, policy makers, researchers, users and public
The international cooperation on drug issues is outstandingly intensive“