Religious Beliefs, Treatment Seeking, and Treatment Completion among Persons with Substance Abuse Problems.

BACKGROUND: Religious beliefs can assist with the success of treatment in persons with substance abuse problems by providing social support, confidence, and hope. METHODS: As such, a secondary analysis using 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), of 20219 participants with self-identified illicit substance use problems was conducted. Survey was weighted bivariate and multivariate regression analysis was used to adjust for potential confounders. FINDINGS: Approximately, 15.0% of the study sample were between ages of 18-25 years and 71.5% were Non-Hispanic Black, 11.3% were Non-Hispanic White, and 12.1% were Hispanic. About 10.3% had less than a high school education, 28.0% graduated high school, 30.0% had some college education, and 32.0% were college graduates. Only 1.3% reported receiving substance abuse treatment in the past 12 months and 5.4% perceived a need for substance abuse treatment in the last 12 months. 65.0% reported that religious beliefs were an important part of their life and 62.5% reported that their religious beliefs influenced their decision making. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, both the importance of religious beliefs and the influence of religious beliefs on decision making were associated with increased odds of having treatment [odds ratio (OR) = 1.56, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14-2.14 and OR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.11-2.05, respectively]. However, there was no association between the importance of religious beliefs or the influence of religious beliefs on decision making and perceived need for substance abuse treatment. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that religious beliefs may be an important determinant in receiving treatment among substance abusers and also have implications for exploration of faith-based and faith-placed interventions.

Toward the Design of an Engagement Tool for Effective Electronic Health Record Adoption.

As healthcare systems continue to expand their use of electronic health records (EHRs), barriers to robust and successful engagement with such systems by stakeholders remain tenacious. To this effect, this research presents the results of a survey tool utilizing both original and modified constructs from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to assess key points of engagement barriers and potential points of intervention for stakeholders of EHRs in a large-scale healthcare organization (500-bed level II regional trauma center). Based on the extensive assessment, the paper presents recommendations for the utility of engagement process modeling and discusses how intervention opportunities can be used to mitigate engagement barriers.

Addressing Health Care Disparities Among Sexual Minorities.

There is evidence of health disparities between sexual minority and heterosexual populations. Although the focus of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender health research has been human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and sexually transmitted infection among men who have sex with men, there are health disparities among sexual minority women. Using the minority stress framework, these disparities may in part be caused by individual prejudice, social stigma, and discrimination. To ensure equitable health for all, there is urgent need for targeted culturally sensitive health promotion, cultural sensitivity training for health care providers, and intervention-focused research.