Employing telehealth strategies for opioid addiction during COVID-19: implications for social work health care

Kim, Suk-Hee; Tesmer, Olga

doi:10.1080/00981389.2021.1953207

Cited by 13 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Advances in mental health delivery, including virtual therapy sessions and support groups, along with on-line education and coaching, can enhance knowledge while building resilience [ 28 ] Virtual sessions can also provide grief and bereavement support for those experiencing loss of a loved one through cancer, opioid overdose or COVID-19. Telehealth has also been successfully employed to support sobriety through SUD treatment [ 30 , 31 ].…”

Section: Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cancer pain during an epidemic and a pandemic

Paice

2022

Current Opinion in Supportive &Amp; Palliative Care

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Purpose of review As our global population ages, cancer has become more prevalent. Thankfully, oncologic treatments are highly effective, leading to significantly improved rates of long-term survival. However, many of these therapies are associated with persistent pain syndromes. Clinicians caring for people with cancer must understand how the influence of the current epidemic of opioid misuse and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have complicated cancer pain management. Creative solutions can emerge from this knowledge. Recent findings Persistent pain due to cancer and its treatment can be managed through multimodal care, although efforts to mitigate the opioid misuse epidemic have created challenges in access to appropriate treatment. Isolation measures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have limited access to nonpharmacologic therapies, such as physical therapy, and have exacerbated mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression. Summary Cancer pain treatment requires more nuanced assessment and treatment decisions as patients live longer. Societal factors multiply existing challenges to cancer pain relief. Research is needed to support safe and effective therapies.

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Section: Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cancer pain during an epidemic and a pandemic

Paice

2022

Current Opinion in Supportive &Amp; Palliative Care

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“…This shift may have been helpful for individuals with OUD [25, 26], many of whom experience barriers to health care due to intersecting effects of criminalization, discrimination, and social marginalization [13]. Virtual care allows clinicians to deliver essential healthcare services to PWOUD [27, 28], offering improved accessibility [29] and the ability to deliver OAT [30], while reducing barriers related to transportation, mobility limitations, and stigma [31]. However, virtual visits may limit clinicians’ ability to fully assess patients’ physical and emotional wellbeing [27] and may introduce technological barriers for those with limited internet access and low digital literacy [32, 33].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Primary Care for People with Opioid Use Disorder: A Scoping Review of Current Strategies, Benefits, and Challenges

Narayan,

Gooderham,

Spencer

et al. 2023

Preprint

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BackgroundThere is a pressing need to understand the implications of the rapid adoption of virtual primary care for people with opioid use disorder. Potential impacts, including disruptions to opiate agonist therapies, and the prospect of improved service accessibility remain underexplored. This scoping review synthesizes current literature on virtual primary care for people with opioid use disorder, with a specific focus on benefits, challenges, and strategies.MethodsWe followed the Joanna Briggs Institute methodological approach for scoping reviews and reported our findings consistent with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. We conducted searches on MEDLINE, Web of Science, CINAHL Complete, and Embase using our developed search strategy with no date restrictions. We incorporated all study types that included the three concepts (i.e., virtual care; primary care; people with opioid use disorder). We excluded research on minors, asynchronous virtual modalities, and care not provided in a primary care setting. We used Covidence to screen and extract data, pulling information on study characteristics, health system features, patient outcomes, and challenges and benefits of virtual primary care. We conducted inductive content analysis and calculated descriptive statistics. We appraised the quality of studies using the Quality Assessment with Diverse Studies tool and categorized findings using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Science.ResultsOur search identified 1474 studies. We removed 536 duplicates, leaving 936 studies for title and abstract screening. After a double review process, we retained 28 studies for extraction. Most studies described virtual primary care delivered via phone (n=18, 64.3%) rather than video. While increased healthcare accessibility was a significant benefit (n=13, 46.4%) to the adoption of virtual visits, issues around access to technology and digital literacy stood out as the main challenge (n=12, 42.9%).ConclusionsThe available studies highlight the potential for enhancing accessibility and continuous access care for people with opioid use disorder using virtual modalities. Future research and policies must focus on bridging gaps to ensure virtual primary care does not exacerbate or entrench health inequities.

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“…Social workers can advocate, conduct research, educate on technology use, and collaborate with resources to bridge access gaps. With resilience and clinical skills, social workers can positively impact substance use disorder clients and enhance care delivery through innovation and technology [7] .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%