Chestnut Health Systems, 221 W. Walton St, Chicago, IL, 60610, USA.
Department of Medicine, Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago, 818 S Wolcott Ave, Chicago, IL, 60613, USA.
Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2022 Mar 18;17(1):22. doi: 10.1186/s13011-022-00449-3.
The decades-long opioid epidemic and the more recent COVID-19 pandemic are two interacting events with significant public health impacts for people with opioid use disorder (OUD). Most published studies regarding the intersection of these two public health crises have focused on community, state, or national trends using pre-existing data. There is a need for complementary qualitative research aimed at identifying how people with opioid use disorder (OUD) are understanding, experiencing, and navigating this unprecedented time. The current study examines understandings and experiences of people with OUD while they have navigated these crises.
The study was guided by a pragmatic lens. We conducted brief semi-structured qualitative interviews with 25 individuals in Chicago, the majority of which had received methadone treatment during the pandemic. Thematic inductive analysis was guided by primary interview questions.
The sample represents a high-risk group, being composed mostly of older non-Hispanic African American males and having considerable socioeconomic barriers. Themes demonstrate how individuals are keeping safe despite limited knowledge of COVID-19, how the pandemic has increased treatment motivation for some, how adaptations impacted treatment and recovery supports, how the availability social support had been reduced, and difficulties individuals had keeping or obtaining financial support.
The findings can be useful for informing future public health response to ensure appropriate treatment access and supports are available. In particular are the need for treatment providers to ensure people with OUD receive appropriate and understandable health crisis-related information and ensuring funds are appropriately allocated to address mental health impacts of social isolation. Finally, there is a need for appropriate financial and infrastructure supports to ensure health and treatment access disparities are not exacerbated for those in greatest need.
几十年来的阿片类药物流行和最近的 COVID-19 大流行是两个相互作用的事件，对阿片类药物使用障碍（OUD）患者有重大的公共卫生影响。大多数关于这两个公共卫生危机交叉的已发表研究都集中在使用现有数据的社区、州或国家趋势上。需要进行补充性的定性研究，以确定阿片类药物使用障碍（OUD）患者如何理解、经历和应对这一前所未有的时期。目前的研究考察了 OUD 患者在应对这些危机时的理解和经验。
该研究以实用主义视角为指导。我们在芝加哥对 25 名个人进行了简短的半结构化定性访谈，其中大多数人在大流行期间接受过美沙酮治疗。主题归纳分析以主要访谈问题为指导。
该样本代表了一个高风险群体，主要由年龄较大的非西班牙裔非裔美国男性组成，并且存在相当大的社会经济障碍。主题展示了个人如何在对 COVID-19 知之甚少的情况下保持安全，大流行如何增加了一些人的治疗动机，适应如何影响治疗和恢复支持，社会支持的可用性如何减少，以及个人在保持或获得财务支持方面的困难。
这些发现可用于为未来的公共卫生应对提供信息，以确保提供适当的治疗机会和支持。特别是需要治疗提供者确保 OUD 患者获得适当和可理解的与健康危机相关的信息，并确保适当分配资金来解决社会隔离对心理健康的影响。最后，需要适当的财务和基础设施支持，以确保那些最需要的人的健康和治疗机会差距不会扩大。
