Attitudes of Black American Christian church leaders toward Opioid Use Disorder, overdoses, and harm reduction: a qualitative study.

Introduction: Black American Christian church leaders are trusted community members and can be invaluable leaders and planners, listeners, and counselors for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) sufferers in the opioid overdose crisis disproportionately affecting the Black community. This qualitative study examines the extent to which the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and beliefs of Black American church leaders support medical and harm reduction interventions for people with OUD. Methods: A semi-structured interview guide was used to conduct in-depth interviews of 30 Black Rhode Island church leaders recruited by convenience and snowball sampling. Results: Thematic analysis of the interviews identified four themes: Church leaders are empathetic and knowledgeable, believe that hopelessness and inequity are OUD risk factors, are committed to helping people flourish beyond staying alive, and welcome collaborations between church and state. Conclusion: Black American Christian church leaders are a critical resource in providing innovative and culturally sensitive strategies in the opioid overdose crisis affecting the Black American communities. As such, their views should be carefully considered in OUD policies, collaborations, and interventions in the Black American community.

A Nationwide Survey Study of Recovery Community Centers Supporting People in Recovery From Substance Use Disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The medical community has become aware of its role in contributing to the opioid epidemic and must be part of its resolution. Recovery community centers (RCCs) represent a new underused component of recovery support. METHODS: This study performed an online national survey of all RCCs identified in the United States, and used US Census ZIP code tabulation area data to describe the communities they serve. RESULTS: Residents of areas with RCCs were more likely to be Black (16.5% vs 12.6% nationally, P = 0.005) and less likely to be Asian (4.7% vs 5.7%, P = 0.005), American Indian, or Alaskan Native (0.6% vs 0.8%, P = 0.03), or live rurally (8.5% vs 14.0%, P < 0.0001). More than half of RCCs began operations within the past 5 years. Recovery community centers were operated, on average, by 8.8 paid and 10.2 volunteer staff; each RCC served a median of 125 individuals per month (4-1,500). Recovery community centers successfully engaged racial/ethnic minority groups (20.8% Hispanic, 22.5% Black) and young adults (23.5% younger than 25 years). Recovery community centers provide addiction-specific support (eg, mutual help, recovery coaching) and assistance with basic needs, social services, technology access, and health behaviors. Regarding medications for opioid use disorder (MOUDs), RCC staff engaged members in conversations about MOUDs (85.2%) and provided direct support for taking MOUD (77.0%). One third (36.1%) of RCCs reported seeking closer collaboration with prescribers. CONCLUSIONS: Recovery community centers are welcoming environments for people who take MOUDs. Closer collaboration between the medical community and community-based peer-led RCCs may lead to significantly improved reach of efforts to end the opioid epidemic.