Residential and inpatient treatment of substance use disorders in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: With substance use rates increasing in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), an understanding of the accessibility and effectiveness of rehabilitative services for people who use alcohol and other drugs (AOD) is critical in the global efforts to diagnose and treat substance use disorders (SUD). This scoping review seeks to address the gaps in knowledge related to the types of research that have been conducted regarding inpatient or residential SUD treatment in SSA, the settings in which the research was conducted, and the study countries. METHODS: A search of three databases, PubMED, Scopus, and African Index Medicus, was conducted for publications related to the treatment of SUD in inpatient or residential settings in SSA. Articles were screened at the title/abstract level and at full text by two reviewers. Articles eligible for inclusion were original research, conducted in SSA, published in English, included populations who received or were currently receiving treatment for SUD in inpatient or residential settings, or documented demand for SUD services. RESULTS: This scoping review included 82 studies originating from 6 countries in SSA. Three themes emerged within the literature: access and demand for inpatient and residential SUD treatment, quality and outcomes of SUD treatment, and descriptions of the services offered and staffing of these facilities. Barriers to access include financial barriers, limited availability of services, and geographic concentration in cities. Women were shown to access residential and inpatient SUD treatment at lower rates than men, and certain racial groups face unique language and financial barriers in accessing services. Studies indicate mixed success of inpatient and residential SUD treatment in sustained SUD remission for patients. CONCLUSION: There are significant gaps in the literature, driven by a lack of longitudinal studies focused on patient outcomes following treatment and the use of a narrow definition of treatment success. Both structural and non-structural barriers, such as stigma and discrimination, are barriers to access. Further research is needed to evaluate approaches to mitigate these barriers and expand access to residential and inpatient SUD treatment.

Economic, social, and clinic influences on opioid treatment program retention in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are associated with positive health outcomes. People remaining on MOUD have a reduced likelihood of drug overdose and mortality. Tanzania supports a national opioid treatment program (OTP) offering MOUD, but retention is a continual challenge. To date, most research on MOUD retention in Tanzania and other Sub-Saharan Africa settings has been focused on the individual-level, with little attention to economic, social, and clinic-level factors. METHODS: We qualitatively examined economic, social, and clinic factors that affect retention on MOUD, specifically methadone maintenance therapy, among former and current clients attending an OTP clinic Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We conducted in-depth interviews with a total of 40 current and former clients receiving MOUD and four focus groups with an additional 35 current clients on MOUD between January and April 2020. We utilized a thematic analysis approach. RESULTS: Daily OTP clinic attendance posed a financial burden to current and former clients and was a barrier to remaining on MOUD. Though treatment is free, clients described struggles to attend clinic, including being able to afford transportation. Female clients were differentially impacted, as sex work was the most common income-generating activity that they participated in, which presented its own set of unique challenges, including barriers to attending during set clinic hours. Drug use stigma acted as a barrier to MOUD and prevented clients from securing a job, rebuilding trust within the community, and accessing transportation to attend the clinic. Being able to rebuild trust with family facilitated remaining on MOUD, as family provided social and financial support. Caretaking responsibilities and familial expectations among female clients conflicted with MOUD adherence. Finally, clinic level factors, such as clinic dispensing hours and punitive consequences for breaking rules, posed barriers to clients on MOUD. CONCLUSION: Social and structural factors, both within (e.g., clinic policies) and outside of (e.g., transportation) the clinic impact MOUD retention. Our findings can inform interventions and policies to address economic and social barriers to MOUD, that can contribute to sustained recovery.

Revisiting revitalization: exploring how structural determinants moderate pathways between neighborhood change and health.

Vacant housing can produce many issues that affect residents' quality of life, especially in historically segregated communities of color. To address these challenges, local governments invest in strategic, place-based revitalization initiatives focused on the regeneration of vacant housing. Yet, the outcomes of these efforts remain contested. To maximize health benefits of revitalization investments, a more nuanced understanding of pathways between neighborhood changes and residents' responses, adaptations, and ability to thrive is necessary, though, remains largely absent in the literature. Using the Vacants to Value initiative in Baltimore, MD as a case study, we explore (1) how health manifests among certain groups in the context of vacant housing revitalization; (2) how vacant housing and its regeneration engender social and cultural environmental change i.e., gentrification; and (3) what structural determinants (cultural norms, policies, institutions, and practices) contribute to the distribution of material resources and benefits of revitalization. Results suggest that vacant housing revitalization requires more than just physical remedies to maximize health. Our findings demonstrate how vacant housing revitalization influences the physical environment, social environment, and structural determinants of material resources and community engagement that can ultimately impact residents' physical, mental, and social health. This study recommends that because housing disparities are rooted in structural inequalities, how policies, practices, and processes moderate pathways for residents to adapt and benefit from neighborhood changes is consequential for health and health equity. Establishing shared governance structures is a promising approach to foster equitable decision-making and outcomes. Going forward in urban regeneration, pathways to retain and strengthen the social environment while revitalizing the physical environment may be promising to achieve healthy communities.

Evaluating the Integrated Methadone and Anti-Retroviral Therapy Strategy in Tanzania Using the RE-AIM Framework.

There are an estimated 50,000 people who inject drugs in Tanzania, with an HIV prevalence in this population of 42%. The Integrated Methadone and Anti-Retroviral Therapy (IMAT) strategy was developed to integrate HIV services into an opioid treatment program (OTP) in sub-Saharan Africa and increase anti-retroviral therapy (ART) initiation rates. In this paper, we evaluate the IMAT strategy using an implementation science framework to inform future care integration efforts in the region. IMAT centralized HIV services into an OTP clinic in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania: HIV diagnosis, ART initiation, monitoring and follow up. A mixed-methods, concurrent design, was used for evaluation: quantitative programmatic data and semi-structured interviews with providers and clients addressed 4 out of 5 components of the RE-AIM framework: reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation. Results showed high reach: 98% of HIV-positive clients received HIV services; effectiveness: 90-day ART initiation rate doubled, from 41% pre-IMAT to 87% post-IMAT (p < 0.001); proportion of HIV-positive eligible clients on ART increased from 71% pre-IMAT to 98% post-IMAT (p < 0.001). There was high adoption and implementation protocol fidelity. Qualitative results informed barriers and facilitators of RE-AIM components. In conclusion, we successfully integrated HIV care into an OTP clinic in sub-Saharan Africa with increased rates of ART initiation. The IMAT strategy represents an effective care integration model to improve HIV care delivery for OTP clients.

Patient and provider perspectives on implementation barriers and facilitators of an integrated opioid treatment and HIV care intervention.

BACKGROUND: In Dar es Salaam Tanzania, the first opioid treatment program (OTP) in Sub-Saharan Africa, had very high rates of enrollment of people who use drugs (PWUD) but low rates of antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation among HIV-positive patients. The integrated methadone and anti-retroviral therapy (IMAT) intervention was developed to integrate HIV services into the OTP clinic. The objective of this paper is to better understand the contextual factors that influence the effectiveness of IMAT implementation using the consolidated framework for implementation research (CFIR). METHODS: Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 35 HIV-positive OTP patients and 8 OTP providers at the Muhimbili National Hospital OTP clinic 6-months after IMAT implementation. Providers were asked about their reactions to and opinions of the IMAT intervention including its implementation, their role in patient education, intervention procedures, and ART dispensing. Interviews with patients focused on their experiences with the IMAT intervention and adapting to the new protocol. Analysis of interview data was guided by the CFIR. RESULTS: The CFIR constructs found to be driving forces behind facilitating or impeding IMAT implementation were: intervention characteristics (e.g. complexity, adaptability and evidence related to IMAT), outer setting (e.g. patient needs and resources), and inner setting (e.g. compatibility of IMAT and available resources for IMAT). The most significant barrier to implementation identified in interviews was availability of resources, including workforce limitations and lack of space given patient load. OTP providers and patients felt the design of the IMAT intervention allowed for adaptability to meet the needs of providers and patients. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the contextual factors that influence implementation is critical to the success of interventions that seek to integrate HIV services into existing programs for key populations such as PWUD. Approximately 4 months after IMAT implementation, the OTP clinic adopted a 'test-and-treat' model for HIV-positive PWUD, which significantly impacted clinic workload as well as the care context. In this study we highlight the importance of intervention characteristics and resources, as key facilitators and barriers to implementation, that should be actively integrated into intervention protocols to increase implementation success. Similar interventions in other low-resource settings should address the ways intervention characteristics and contextual factors, such as adaptability, complexity and available resources impact implementation in specific care contexts.

Convenience without disclosure: a formative research study of a proposed integrated methadone and antiretroviral therapy service delivery model in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Though timely initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a vital component of effective HIV prevention, care and treatment, people who inject drugs are less likely to receive ART than their non-drug using counterparts. In an effort to increase access to ART for people who inject drugs, we examined perceived benefits, challenges, and recommendations for implementing an integrated methadone and ART service delivery model at an opioid treatment program (OTP) clinic in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. METHODS: We conducted in-depth interviews with 12 providers and 20 HIV-positive patients at the Muhimbili National Hospital OTP clinic in early 2015. We used thematic content analysis to examine patient and provider perspectives of an integrated model. RESULTS: Respondents perceived that offering on-site CD4 testing and HIV clinical management at the OTP clinic would improve the timeliness and efficiency of the ART eligibility process, make HIV clinical care more convenient, mitigate stigma and discrimination in HIV care and treatment settings, and improve patient monitoring and ART adherence. However, perceived challenges included overburdened OTP clinic staff and limited space at the clinic to accommodate additional services. Limited privacy at the OTP clinic and its contribution to fear among HIV-positive patients of being stigmatized by their peers at the clinic was a common theme expressed particularly by patients, and often corroborated by providers. Co-dispensing ART and methadone at the clinic's pharmacy window was viewed as a potential deterrent for patients. Providers felt that an electronic health information system would help them better monitor patients' progress, but that this system would need to be integrated into existing health information systems. To address these potential barriers to implementing an integrated model, respondents recommended increasing OTP provider and clinic capacity, offering flexible ART dispensing options, ensuring privacy with ART dispensing, and harmonizing any new electronic health information systems with existing systems. CONCLUSIONS: An integrated methadone and ART service delivery model at the MNH OTP clinic could improve access to HIV care and treatment for OTP patients. However, specific implementation strategies must ensure that OTP providers are not overburdened and confidentiality of patients is maintained.

"Can't you initiate me here?": Challenges to timely initiation on antiretroviral therapy among methadone clients in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Despite dramatic improvement in antiretroviral therapy (ART) access globally, people living with HIV who inject drugs continue to face barriers that limit their access to treatment. This paper explores barriers and facilitators to ART initiation among clients attending a methadone clinic in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. METHODS: We interviewed 12 providers and 20 clients living with HIV at the Muhimbili National Hospital methadone clinic between January and February 2015. We purposively sampled clients based on sex and ART status and providers based on job function. To analyze interview transcripts, we adopted a content analysis approach. RESULTS: Participants identified several factors that hindered timely ART initiation for clients at the methadone clinic. These included delays in CD4 testing and receiving CD4 test results; off-site HIV clinics; stigma operating at the individual, social and institutional levels; insufficient knowledge of the benefits of early ART initiation among clients; treatment breakdown at the clinic level possibly due to limited staff; and initiating ART only once one feels physically ill. Participants perceived social support as a buffer against stigma and facilitator of HIV treatment. Some clients also reported that persistent monitoring and follow-up on their HIV care and treatment by methadone clinic providers led them to initiate ART. CONCLUSION: Health system factors, stigma and limited social support pose challenges for methadone clients living with HIV to initiate ART. Our findings suggest that on-site point-of-care CD4 testing, a peer support system, and trained HIV treatment specialists who are able to counsel HIV-positive clients and initiate them on ART at the methadone clinic could help reduce barriers to timely ART initiation for methadone clients.

A Model of Cancer Clinical Trial Decision-making Informed by African-American Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND: Clinical trials are critical to advancing cancer treatment. Minority populations are underrepresented among trial participants, and there is limited understanding of their decision-making process and key determinants of decision outcomes regarding trial participation. METHODS: To understand research decision-making among clinical trial-eligible African-American cancer patients at Johns Hopkins, we conducted seven focus groups (n=32) with trial-offered patients ≥ 18 years diagnosed with lung, breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer ≤ 5 years. Three "acceptor" and four "decliner" focus groups were conducted. Questions addressed: attitudes towards clinical trials, reasons for accepting or declining participation, and recommendations to improve minority recruitment and enrollment. Data were transcribed and analyzed using traditional approaches to content and thematic analysis in NVivo 9.0. Data coding resulted in themes that supported model construction. RESULTS: Participant experiences revealed the following themes when describing the decision-making process: Information gathering, Intrapersonal perspectives, and Interpersonal influences. Decision outcomes included the presence or absence of decision regret and satisfaction. From these themes, we generated a Model of Cancer Clinical Trial Decision-making. CONCLUSION: Our model should be tested in hypothesis-driven research to elucidate factors and processes influencing decision balance and outcomes of trial-related decision-making. The model should also be tested in other disparities populations and for diagnoses other than cancer.

Patient and provider perspectives on improving the linkage of HIV-positive pregnant women to long-term HIV care and treatment in eastern Uganda.

Despite strong evidence that antiretroviral therapy (ART) reduces the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and improves the health of HIV-positive mothers, many HIV-positive pregnant women do not enrol into long-term HIV care and treatment. This study examined barriers and facilitators to the linkage of HIV-positive pregnant women from antenatal care (ANC) to long-term HIV care from patient and provider perspectives, following the implementation of a collaborative quality improvement project in Eastern Uganda. It also solicited recommendations for improving linkages to HIV care. Structured interviews were conducted with 11 health providers and 48 HIV-positive mothers enrolled in HIV care. Facilitators to linking HIV-positive pregnant women to long-term HIV care identified included support from expert clients, escorted referrals, same-day HIV care registration, and coordination between ANC and HIV services. Barriers reported included shortages in HIV testing kits and fear of social, physical and medical consequences. Participants recommended integration of ANC and HIV services, reduction in waiting times, HIV counselling by expert clients, and community-based approaches for improving linkages to HIV care. Linking HIV-positive pregnant women to HIV care can be improved through deliberate implementation of quality improvement interventions in facilities to address barriers to access and provide stronger support and community mobilisation.