2017
Overview
Heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) is a medical approach to severe opioid addiction in which pharmaceutical-grade heroin (diamorphine) is administered under clinical supervision alongside psychosocial and medical support. It is offered to people with long-standing, severe opioid dependence who have not responded adequately to standard therapies such as methadone or buprenorphine maintenance. By providing a regulated, prescribed supply in a controlled setting, HAT aims to reduce reliance on illicit opioids, lower the risks associated with street drug use, improve engagement with health and social services, and stabilise patients so that other aspects of treatment and rehabilitation can proceed. As a form of substitution therapy, it sits within the broader framework of harm reduction, which seeks to minimise the health and social damage linked to drug use rather than requiring immediate abstinence. Programmes are typically delivered within strict regulatory and ethical safeguards, with ongoing monitoring of safety and outcomes. The approach connects to wider questions in addiction medicine about how best to retain hard-to-reach patients in care and reduce harm at both the individual and community level. This page collects peer-reviewed, open-access research in Addiction Disorder and Rehabilitation relevant to opioid treatment and harm-reduction strategies.
Research published in this journal
1 peer-reviewed article, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.