Training in office-based opioid treatment with buprenorphine in US residency programs: A national survey of residency program directors.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of opioid use disorder (OUD) has increased sharply. Office-based opioid treatment with buprenorphine (OBOT) is effective but often underutilized because of physicians' lack of experience prescribing this therapy. Little is known about US residency training programs' provision of OBOT and addiction medicine training. METHODS: The authors conducted a survey of residency program directors (RPDs) at all US residency programs in internal medicine, family medicine, and psychiatry to assess the frequency with which their residents provide care for OUD, presence and features of curricula in OBOT and addiction medicine, RPDs' beliefs about OBOT, and potential barriers to providing OBOT training. RESULTS: The response rate was 49.5% (476 of 962). Although 76.9% of RPDs reported that residents frequently manage patients with OUD, only 23.5% reported that their program dedicates 12 or more hours of curricular time to addiction medicine, 35.9% reported that their program encourages/requires training in OBOT, and 22.6% reported that their program encourages/requires obtaining a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) waiver to prescribe buprenorphine. Most RPDs believe that OBOT is an important treatment option for OUD (88.1%) and that increased residency training in OBOT would improve access to OBOT (73.7%). The authors also found that programs whose RPD had favorable views of OBOT were more likely to provide OBOT and addiction medicine training. Psychiatry programs were most likely to provide OBOT training and their RPDs most likely to have beliefs about OBOT that were positive. Commonly cited barriers to implementing OBOT training include a lack of waivered preceptors (76.9%), competing curricular priorities (64.1%), and a lack of support (social work and counseling) services (54.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Internal medicine, family medicine, and psychiatry residents often care for patients with OUD, and most RPDs believe that increased residency training in OBOT would increase access to this treatment. Yet, only a minority of programs offer training in OBOT.

Evaluating the Full Plate Living lifestyle intervention in low-income monolingual Latinas with and without food insecurity.

INTRODUCTION: Food insecurity has long been associated with poor physical and mental health, especially among women from underrepresented minorities. Despite efforts to reduce food insecurity, rates continue to rise and remain disproportionately high among Latinx living in the United States, a group reporting worse mental health symptoms than any other ethnic group during the COVID-19 pandemic. The need to reduce the health burden associated with food insecurity among Latinas is urgent and requires a more targeted and innovative approach. Interventions using a popular education approach have proven effective among underserved populations, especially when these are delivered by community health workers. However, food insecurity status of the participants is often unreported and it is not clear whether or not results vary between those with and without food insecurity. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this quasi-experimental study was to examine physical and mental health changes among Latinas with, and without, food insecurity following a multicomponent health intervention led by community health workers using a popular education approach. METHODS: Enrolled obese Latinas (N = 98) with and without food insecurity responded to demographic, health behaviors and mental health surveys and completed biometric measurements at baseline, immediately following the intervention and at 3 months. RESULTS: At baseline, participants with food insecurity reported more anxiety and depression than those without, but average body mass index was comparable. Depression, anxiety and body mass index were lower at 3 months post and no statistically significant differences were seen between the groups. Participants with food insecurity benefited as much from the intervention as those without.We found that, although community health workers are not licensed healthcare professionals, with proper training and support, they were able to successfully reduce the risk of chronic diseases and improve mental health symptoms among food-insecure Latinas. CONCLUSION: Given the promising results, similar interventions should be implemented on a larger scale in Latino communities among food insecure women. Long-term sustainability should also be explored.

Optimizing Lifestyle Medicine Health Care Delivery Through Enhanced Interdisciplinary Education.

While few may argue about the importance of healthy lifestyle choices on the effects of chronic health conditions, many would highlight the challenge that its practical integration poses in daily clinical practice. The field of lifestyle medicine aims to assist individuals and communities to adopt and sustain healthy behaviors. It is a powerful yet often underutilized tool. This article illustrates the importance of joint multidisciplinary efforts in the effective practice of lifestyle medicine. Furthermore it stresses the importance of equipping healthcare providers with the tools and education necessary to deliver consistent, and high quality holistic care.