Trust and other Characteristics Associated with Health Care Utilization by Injection Drug Users

Abstract

JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES 0022-0426/06/04 953-974 __________Stephen Ostertag is a Ph.D. student at the University of Connecticut. His interests include crime, deviance and social control, mass media and culture. This paper is an adaptation of his master's thesis. Brad Wright, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Connecticut where he studies the social psychology of crime and deviance. Robert S. Broadhead, Ph.D., is a professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut and the principal investigator of the NIDA-funded study (RO1 DA12112) from which this analysis derived. Frederick Altice, M.D., is an associate professor of medicine with the Yale University School of Medicine and the Yale AIDS Program and the co-principal investigator of the project from which this analysis is derived.

Substance Abuse, Violence, and HIV in Women: A Literature Review of the Syndemic

“…Potential explanations include mistrust in healthcare or in providers, [72][73][74] concurrent substance abuse that interferes with other activities, or concurrent mental health issues, such as depression or PTSD, that either reduce motivation for health seeking or paralyze positive self-health promotion. Alternatively, current healthcare systems and individual providers may be poorly equipped with resources to engage abused women, especially those with active substance use disorders.…”

Challenges in managing HIV in people who use drugs

“…39–41 Healthcare avoidance by drug users is further exacerbated in countries where drug use is criminalized or compulsory detention for drug use is used as a means of “drug treatment”. 17,42,43, 44 , …”

Expanding access to prevention, care and treatment for hepatitis C virus infection among people who inject drugs

“…In a study of HCV assessment and treatment among PWID attending OST clinics by Fortier et al, poor social functioning was common among PWID and was associated with reduced early HCV treatment intent and specialist assessment, suggesting that enhanced support prior to treatment may be important for improving linkage to HCV care (Fortier, themed issue). It has been demonstrated that disadvantaged subgroups of PWID are less likely to seek health care by fear of stigma, discrimination, judgemental attitudes, and misunderstanding of their needs and their lifestyle by healthcare providers (Neale, Tompkins, & Sheard, 2008;Ostertag, Wright, Broadhead, & Altice, 2006). As such, a trusted HCV peer-support worker, nurse, or specialist may facilitate addressing patient barriers to HCV care related to social functioning that might be present at the time of treatment contemplation or prior to engagement with an HCV specialist (Treloar, Rance, Dore, & Grebely, 2014).…”