Perinatal OUD Treatment Provider Understandings of Rural Patients' Experiences.

OBJECTIVES: To present perspectives of substance use treatment providers offering perinatal opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment in a largely rural, Appalachian region. To demonstrate the extent to which providers sought to understand their patients' experiences accessing treatment and how this understanding informed providers' approach to offering patient-centered care. METHODS: A qualitative study combining semi-structured interviews and participant-observation with perinatal substance use treatment providers, conducted within a comprehensive program. Using purposive and opportunistic sampling with key informants (n = 10), a saturation sample was achieved. Data were analyzed using modified Grounded Theory. RESULTS: Perinatal substance use treatment providers had a good understanding of their patients' experiences seeking treatment for opioid use disorder, including being aware of obstacles patients encountered. This understanding allowed providers to better address patients' needs in and out of the clinic. CONCLUSIONS: Participants demonstrated a good understanding of what their largely rural, Appalachian patients experienced when attempting to access perinatal OUD treatment. This understanding may enable more patient-centered care.

"The elephant in the room;" a qualitative study of perinatal fears in opioid use disorder treatment in Southern Appalachia.

BACKGROUND: Diagnoses of perinatal opioid use disorder (OUD) continue to rise in the United States. Patients and providers report obstacles to OUD treatment access. Difficulties include legal ambiguity related to Social Services notification requirements following a birth to people using opioids or in medication-assisted treatment for OUD. METHODS: Through semi-structured interviews, participant-observation, and a focus group conducted in a mostly rural, region of the Southern United States (where perinatal OUD is more prevalent), patients' and providers' perspectives about perinatal substance use treatment were initially sought for a larger study. The findings presented here are from a subset analysis of patients' experiences and perspectives. Following ethics review and exemption determination, a total of 27 patient participants were opportunistically, convenience, and/or purposively sampled and recruited to participate in interviews and/or a focus group. Data were analyzed using modified Grounded Theory. RESULTS: When asked about overall experiences with and barriers to accessing perinatal substance use treatment, 11 of 27 participants reported concerns about Social Services involvement resulting from disclosure of their substance use during pregnancy. In the subset analysis, prevalent themes were Fears of Social Services Involvement, Preparation for Delivery, and Providers Addressing Fears. CONCLUSIONS: Perinatal OUD patients may seek substance use treatment with existing fears of Social Services involvement. Patients appreciate providers' efforts to prepare them for this potential reality. Providers should become aware of how their own hospital systems, counties, states, and countries interpret laws governing notification requirements. By becoming aware of patients' fears, providers can be ready to discuss the implications of Social Services involvement, promote patient-centered decision-making, and increase trust.

Comprehensive Treatment for Pregnant and/or Parenting Women with Substance Use Disorders and Their Children: A Cross-Cultural Comparison.

Background: Substance use during pregnancy and early parenting years is a well-known global public health problem, but the literature comparing treatment programs for this subpopulation across countries is limited. This article both describes three women-centered treatment programs in the United States, Brazil, and Argentina and examines similarities and differences among the programs in terms of patient characteristics. Such an analysis can better inform clinicians in the assessment and treatment of women who use substances and improve the universal understanding about them. Methods: A secondary data analysis of patient characteristics (e.g., pregnant at treatment admission) and patient history (e.g., substance dependence diagnosis, family history of substance use, co-occurring mental health issues) of reproductive age women (N=356) from substance use treatment programs in the United States, Brazil, and Argentina. Results: The Horizons program admitted the highest percentage of pregnant women (60%), Lua Nova (36%), and Casa Santa Clara (17%). Horizons patients (82%) were more likely to have a substance dependence diagnosis than Lua Nova (15%) or Casa Santa Clara patients (13%). Horizons patients (78%) were more likely to have a family history of substance use than Lua Nova (15%) or Casa Santa Clara (57%) patients. Horizons was also more likely than Lua Nova or Casa Santa Clara to have patients who had entered mental health treatment (70% vs. 19% vs. 9%, respectively). Conclusion: Substance use problems that continue during pregnancy and parenting are common within different cultures and societies. These analyses identified similarities and differences in patient characteristics, history, and treatment programs. Cross-cultural comparisons of treatment approaches provide opportunities for clinicians to explore new ways of caring for this population.

The Value of Treating Opioid Use Disorder in Family Medicine: From the Patient Perspective.

INTRODUCTION: Despite evidence demonstrating that medications for opioid use disorder (OUD) reduce morbidity and mortality, the majority of patients do not receive treatment. The National Academies of Science call for more research exploring the patient's perspective of treatment modalities to increase access to individualized, patient-centered care. We aim to build on existing literature by describing patient experiences treated for OUD in a rural family medicine setting. METHODS: We employed a convenience sampling methodology to complete brief, structured interviews with thematic data analysis for 30 of 57 eligible patients receiving office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) in the primary care setting. RESULTS: Participants' experiences with OBOT were generally positive and shaped by societal structures and institutions, their life before treatment, their treatment history, and the kind of care they received in OBOT. Patients identified accessibility and privacy as advantages to receiving OBOT in primary care. DISCUSSION: This research identifies ways providers can provide individualized and effective OUD treatment within the family medicine setting.

A Cohort Comparison of Differences Between Regional and Buncombe County Patients of a Comprehensive Perinatal Substance Use Disorders Program in Western North Carolina.

BACKGROUND Pregnant patients from rural counties of Western North Carolina face additional barriers when accessing comprehensive perinatal substance use disorders care at Project CARA as compared to patients local to the program in Buncombe County. We hypothesized regional patients would be less engaged in care.METHOD Using a retrospective cohort design, univariate analyses (χ2, t-test; P < .05) compared patients' characteristics, engagement in care, and delivery outcomes. Engagement in care, the primary outcome, was operationalized as: attendance at expected, program-specific prenatal and postpartum visits, utilization of in-house counseling, community-based and/or inpatient substance use disorders treatment, and maternal urine drug screen at delivery negative for illicit substances.RESULTS Regional patients (n = 324) were more likely than Buncombe County patients (n = 284) to have opioid [209 (64.5%) versus 162 (57.0%)] or amphetamine/methamphetamine use disorders (25 [7.7%] versus 13 [4.6%]), but less likely to have cannabis use (19 [5.9%] versus 38 [13.4%]; P = .009) and concurrent psychiatric disorders (214 [66.0%] versus 220 [77.5%]; P = .002). Engagement at postpartum visits was the significantly different outcome between patients (110/221 [49.8%] versus 146/226 [64.6%]; P = .002).LIMITATIONS Outcomes were available for 66.8% of regional and 79.6% of Buncombe County patients of one program in one predominately white, non-Hispanic region of the state.CONCLUSION Contrary to our hypothesis, regional and Buncombe County women engaged in prenatal care equally. However, a more formal transition into the postpartum period is needed, especially for regional women. A "hub-and-spokes" model that extends delivery of perinatal substance use disorders care into rural communities may be more effective for engagement retention.

"I didn't want to be on Suboxone at first " - Ambivalence in Perinatal Substance Use Treatment.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this article are to present findings from recent qualitative research with patients in a combined perinatal substance use treatment program in Central Appalachia, and to describe and analyze participants' ambivalence about medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), in the context of widespread societal stigma and judgement. METHODS: We conducted research in a comprehensive outpatient perinatal substance use treatment program housed in a larger obstetric practice serving a large rural, Central Appalachian region. The program serves patients across the spectrum of substance use disorders but specifically offers medication-assisted treatment to perinatal patients with OUD. We purposively and opportunistically sampled patients receiving prescriptions for buprenorphine or buprenorphine-naloxone dual product, along with prenatal care and other services. Through participant-observation and semi-structured interviews, we gathered qualitative data from 27 participants, in a total of 31 interviews. We analyzed transcripts of interviews and fieldnotes using modified Grounded Theory. RESULTS: Participants in a combined perinatal substance use treatment program value supportive, non-judgmental care but report ambivalence about medication, within structural and institutional contexts of criminalized, stigmatized substance use and close scrutiny of their pregnancies. Women are keenly aware of the social and public consequences for themselves and their parenting, if they begin or continue medication treatment for OUD. CONCLUSIONS: Substance use treatment providers should consider the social consequences of medication treatment, as well as the clinical benefits, when presenting treatment options and recommendations to patients. Patient-centered care must include an understanding of larger social and structural contexts.