Rizzo Davinia, Mu Temika, Cotroneo Sophia, Arunogiri Shalini
Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash Addiction Research Centre and Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, Richmond, VIC, Australia.
Turning Point, Eastern Health, Richmond, VIC, Australia.
Front Glob Womens Health. 2022 Feb 17;3:795532. doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2022.795532. eCollection 2022.
Women remain under-represented in addiction treatment, comprising less than a third of clients in treatment services. Shame, stigma, and fear of legal and social repercussions (e.g., child protection involvement) are major barriers impacting on treatment-seeking for women. This is compounded for women at risk of homelessness, with practical and logistical reasons for not engaging in treatment. We conducted a qualitative study with both clinicians and service-providers, and women with lived experience of addiction and at risk of homelessness, to identify barriers to access and help-seeking within this vulnerable population. Adult women with lived experience of homelessness and addiction were invited to participate in an online focus group. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using framework analysis. Analysis resulted in the identification of barriers to access in three areas. These were system-related, socio-cultural, and emotional barriers. We also present findings from the focus group recorded in real-time, using the novel method of digital illustration. This study highlights key factors impacting on help-seeking and access to treatment for addiction faced by women at risk of homelessness. The findings of this study highlight important areas of consideration for clinicians and service-providers working with women who experience addiction, as well as informing future research directions for this priority population. Findings are discussed in the context of exigent literature.
在成瘾治疗领域，女性的代表性仍然不足，在治疗服务的客户中所占比例不到三分之一。羞耻感、污名化以及对法律和社会后果（如儿童保护干预）的恐惧是影响女性寻求治疗的主要障碍。对于有无家可归风险的女性来说，情况更为复杂，她们因实际和后勤方面的原因而无法接受治疗。我们对临床医生、服务提供者以及有成瘾经历且有面临无家可归风险的女性进行了一项定性研究，以确定这一弱势群体在获得治疗和寻求帮助方面的障碍。邀请有过无家可归和成瘾经历的成年女性参加在线焦点小组。访谈内容经转录后采用框架分析法进行分析。分析结果确定了在三个方面存在获得治疗的障碍，即与系统相关的障碍、社会文化障碍和情感障碍。我们还展示了使用数字插图这一新颖方法对实时记录的焦点小组的研究结果。本研究突出了影响有面临无家可归风险的女性寻求成瘾治疗帮助及获得治疗的关键因素。该研究结果为从事成瘾女性工作的临床医生和服务提供者指出了重要的考虑领域，同时也为这一重点人群的未来研究方向提供了参考。研究结果将结合相关紧急文献进行讨论。
