Foundry, 915-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 2A9, Canada.
Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 317-2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2022 May 7;17(1):34. doi: 10.1186/s13011-022-00466-2.
Evidence continues to show that young people, ages 15-24, remain at significant risk of harms from non-medical opioid use and opioid use disorder (OUD), with experts calling for widespread implementation of developmentally-appropriate interventions. These recommendations include the involvement of caregivers in the prevention, early intervention, and treatment of young people using opioids. However, little research has investigated caregivers' experiences supporting young people, leaving critical gaps in understanding this role. The aim of this study is to explore caregivers' experiences accessing opioid use treatments with young people and their needs and ideas for improving such treatments.
This study reports qualitative findings from Phase 1 of the Improving Treatment Together project, a multi-phase, multi-site community-based participatory study broadly aimed at co-designing opioid use treatments to improve the experiences and outcomes of young people using non-medical opioids. During Phase 1, a total of 27 caregivers (parents, guardians) participated in full-day workshops that were conducted in three communities in British Columbia, Canada. Following human-centred co-design methods, caregivers engaged in small and large group discussions of their experiences, needs, and ideas for improving opioid use treatments for young people. Discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analysed.
Across communities, caregivers' main experiences were defined as 'becoming our young people's case managers' and 'enduring a never-ending rollercoaster'. To improve these experiences, two needs themes were identified - expanding organizational and system-level capacity and wider-spread understanding of opioid use as a health issue. Caregivers brainstormed a total of 378 individual ideas to meet these needs, several of which spanned multiple needs themes.
Caregivers' experiences, needs, and ideas reveal critical opportunities for improving the quality of interventions for opioid use among young people. This study represents a substantial contribution to the design and implementation of developmentally-appropriate and family-centred interventions for young people using opioids.
有证据持续表明，15-24 岁的年轻人仍然面临着非医疗用阿片类药物使用和阿片类药物使用障碍（OUD）的严重危害，专家呼吁广泛实施适合青少年发展的干预措施。这些建议包括让照顾者参与预防、早期干预和治疗使用阿片类药物的青少年。然而，很少有研究调查照顾者支持年轻人的经验，因此在理解这一角色方面存在关键的空白。本研究旨在探讨照顾者在为年轻人寻求阿片类药物治疗方面的经验，以及他们对改善此类治疗的需求和想法。
本研究报告了共同改善治疗项目（Improving Treatment Together project）第一阶段的定性发现，该项目是一个多阶段、多地点的基于社区的参与性研究，广泛旨在共同设计阿片类药物治疗方案，以改善非医疗使用阿片类药物的年轻人的体验和结果。在第一阶段，共有 27 名照顾者（父母、监护人）参加了在加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省三个社区举办的为期一天的研讨会。照顾者采用以人为中心的共同设计方法，讨论了他们的经验、需求和改善针对年轻人的阿片类药物治疗的想法。讨论内容被录音、逐字转录，并进行了主题分析。
在不同社区，照顾者的主要经验被定义为“成为我们年轻人的案件经理”和“忍受无尽的过山车”。为了改善这些经验，确定了两个需求主题-扩大组织和系统层面的能力以及更广泛地理解阿片类药物使用作为一个健康问题。照顾者总共提出了 378 条个人想法来满足这些需求，其中一些想法跨越了多个需求主题。
照顾者的经验、需求和想法揭示了改善针对年轻人阿片类药物使用的干预质量的关键机会。本研究为设计和实施适合青少年发展和以家庭为中心的针对使用阿片类药物的青少年的干预措施做出了重要贡献。
