School of Public Health, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA.
Int J Drug Policy. 2010 May;21(3):173-8. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2009.09.002. Epub 2009 Oct 8.
The Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) program has been initiated in China since 2004. As of the end of November, 2008, 558 MMT clinics had been established countrywide. The objective of this study was to elucidate the difficulties and challenges as perceived by service providers working in MMT clinics.
One service provider from each of the 28 MMT study clinics in Zhejiang and Jiangxi Provinces of China participated in a face-to-face in-depth interview for about 1-2h to describe their perceptions of working in MMT clinics. Qualitative data were analysed using ATLAS.ti. The grounded theory was used to guide the data analysis.
Participants identified major problems in providing services in MMT clinics including lack of resources, professional training, and institutional support. Difficulties in pursuit of career, concern for personal safety, low income, heavy working load, and poor opinion of MMT by Chinese society often contributed to greater stress and burnout among the service providers.
The MMT programs in China desperately need additional resource allocation and institutional support for the current and perhaps future expansion of the programs. The service providers are in urgent need of professional training to improve the quality of care they can offer MMT clients.
美沙酮维持治疗（MMT）项目自 2004 年在中国启动。截至 2008 年 11 月底，全国已建立了 558 个 MMT 门诊。本研究旨在阐明全国美沙酮维持治疗项目试点地区（浙江省和江西省）门诊工作人员所感知的困难和挑战。
来自浙江省和江西省的 28 个 MMT 研究门诊中的每个门诊各有 1 名服务提供者参与了大约 1-2 小时的面对面深入访谈，以描述他们对在 MMT 门诊工作的看法。采用 ATLAS.ti 对定性数据进行分析。采用扎根理论指导数据分析。
参与者确定了 MMT 门诊提供服务中存在的主要问题，包括缺乏资源、专业培训和机构支持。在追求职业发展、个人安全、低收入、工作量大以及对 MMT 的社会评价较差等方面存在困难，往往导致服务提供者的压力和倦怠感更大。
中国的 MMT 项目迫切需要额外的资源分配和机构支持，以满足项目当前和未来的扩展需求。服务提供者急需专业培训，以提高他们为 MMT 患者提供的护理质量。
