Evaluation of 6 remote First Nations community-based buprenorphine programs in northwestern Ontario: Retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate established opioid addiction treatment programs that use traditional healing in combination with buprenorphine-naloxone maintenance treatment in 6 First Nations communities in the Sioux Lookout region of northwestern Ontario. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Six First Nations communities in northwestern Ontario. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 526 First Nations participants in opioid-dependence treatment programs. INTERVENTION: Buprenorphine-naloxone substitution therapy and First Nations healing programming. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Retention rates and urine drug screening (UDS) results. RESULTS: Treatment retention rates at 6, 12, and 18 months were 84%, 78%, and 72%, respectively. We estimate that the rate at 24 months will also be more than 70%. The UDS programming varied and was implemented in only 1 community. Initially urine testing was voluntary and it then became mandatory. Screening with either method found the proportion of urine samples with negative results for illicit opioids ranged between 84% and 95%. CONCLUSION: The program's treatment retention rates and negative UDS results were higher than those reported for most methadone and buprenorphine-naloxone programs, despite a patient population where severe posttraumatic stress disorder is endemic, and despite the programs' lack of resources and addiction expertise. Community-based programs like these overcome the initial challenge of cultural competence. First Nations communities in other provinces should establish their own buprenorphinenaloxone programs, using local primary care physicians as prescribers. Sustainable core funding is needed for programming, long-term aftercare, and trauma recovery for such initiatives.

Community-wide measures of wellness in a remote First Nations community experiencing opioid dependence: evaluating outpatient buprenorphine-naloxone substitution therapy in the context of a First Nations healing program.

OBJECTIVE: To document the development of unique opioid-dependence treatment in remote communities that combines First Nations healing strategies and substitution therapy with buprenorphine-naloxone. DESIGN: Quantitative measurements of community wellness and response to community-based opioid-dependence treatment. SETTING: Remote First Nations community in northwestern Ontario. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 140 self-referred opioid-dependent community members. INTERVENTION: Community-developed program of First Nations healing, addiction treatment, and substitution therapy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Community-wide measures of wellness: number of criminal charges, addiction-related medical evacuations, child protection agency cases, school attendance, and attendance at community events. RESULTS: The age-adjusted adult rate of opioid-dependence treatment was 41%. One year after the development of the in-community healing and substitution therapy program for opioid dependence, police criminal charges had fallen by 61.1%, child protection cases had fallen by 58.3%, school attendance had increased by 33.3%, and seasonal influenza immunizations had dramatically gone up by 350.0%. Attendance at community events is now robust, and sales at the local general store have gone up almost 20%. CONCLUSION: Community-wide wellness measures have undergone dramatic public health changes since the development of a First Nations healing program involving opioid substitution therapy with buprenorphine-naloxone. Funding for such programs is ad hoc and temporary, and this threatens the survival of the described program and other such programs developing in this region, which has been strongly affected by an opioid-dependence epidemic.