This cross-Europe analysis explores crucial aspects of long term recovery from substance use. Leading experts set out the evolving needs of people who have sought to change their use of substances and the factors in their progress. The book concludes with clear recommendations for improving future research, policy and practice.

Part 1: Critical explorations of long-term recovery 1. Recovery as long term: an introduction ~ Alastair Roy, Sarah Galvani and Amanda Clayson 2. Is measuring long-term recovery desirable, necessary or even possible? ~ Wulf Livingston 3. Telling recovery stories: an exploration of the relationship between policy, practice and lived experience ~ Alastair Roy and Jennifer Christensen 4. Change processes in long-term recovery for individuals with present and former substance-use dependence ~ Thomas Solgaard Svendsen 5. Provider and user perspectives on long-term recovery in England: how do we know when we are done? ~ Maike Klein and John Hill Part 2: Intimate relationships, trauma and long-term recovery 6. Women’s and men’s stories about sex and intimate relationships in long-term recovery from problematic drug use ~ Anette Skårner and Bengt Svensson 7. Multiple recoveries: substance use and trauma ~ Sarah Fox and Karin Berg 8. Being a partner in long-term recovery: stories from female partners in Norway ~ Sari Lindeman and Lillian Bruland Selseng 9. Long-term recovery for the ‘adult children’ of parents who use alcohol in Iceland ~ Jóna Ólafsdóttir and Amanda Clayson Part 3: Diversity across the lifespan in long-term recovery 10. Social and structural issues in recovery among migrants and ethnic minorities: an exploration of cultural competence and individual recovery perspectives ~ Charlotte De Kock and Aline Pouille 11. Transitions in long-term recovery: mapping adolescent development theory to better understand identity change in recovery ~ Lucy Webb, Amanda Clayson and Nigel Cox 12. Care, continuity and change in long-term recovery: the experiences of older opioid users in long-term recovery in three German regions ~ Ines Arendt 13. When long-term recovery isn’t an option: people at the end of life ~ Sam Wright and Gemma Yarwood 14. Conclusion: Critical reflections, theories and key messages ~ Sarah Galvani, Alastair Roy and Amanda Clayson

This text focusses specifically on the idea of long-term recovery and social care needs. Far less practice, policy and research attention has been given to people who have been in long-term ‘recovery’ than to those who want or ‘need’ interventions to help support their behaviour change in the short term. However, understanding that social care needs (and health) are part of the maintenance of longer-term recovery is crucial to ensuring practitioners and policy makers understand that this is a lifelong journey for many people.