Rapid assessment and response: methods for developing public health responses to drug problems

Rapid assessments are used increasingly to assist in the development of public health interventions for drug problems. They have been used to assess drug use and its health consequences, alert governments to the need to intervene, build alliances between community groups and health organisations, identify appropriate interventions (at the individual, community and structural level), indicate obstacles to interventions, test their feasibility and help implement and assess them. Rapid assessment and response (RAR) methods have been developed because: conventional social science and routine drug surveillance information systems often fail to deliver relevant information; many drug problems change faster than social research projects can deliver; and because inappropriate interventions may be developed unless based on good evidence and analysis. Originating as a research method, and often used by international agencies and conducted by external consultants, RAR is a rapidly evolving approach to analysing situations in order to develop interventions. RAR is becoming a tool for developing responses and not merely for conducting rapid "assessments".