Student-led research team-building program may help junior faculty increase productivity in competitive biomedical research environment.

BACKGROUND: Interdisciplinary research teams can increase productivity among academic researchers, yet many junior investigators do not have the training or financial resources to build productive teams. We developed and tested the acceptability and feasibility of three low-cost services to help junior faculty build and maintain their own research teams. METHODS: At an urban academic medical centre, we implemented three types of consultation services: 1) giving talks on evidence-based best practices for building teams; 2) providing easy-to-use team building resources via email; and 3) offering a year-long consultation service-co-led by students-that taught faculty to build and maintain research teams. Our primary outcome was the number of faculty who used each service. For the yearlong consultation service, we asked faculty participants to complete three online self-assessments to rate their leadership confidence, the team's performance, and which of the consultation components were most helpful. We used descriptive statistics to evaluate faculty assessment scores at three timepoints by comparing median scores and interquartile ranges. RESULTS: We gave 31 talks on team building to 328 faculty and postdoctoral fellows from 2014 to 2020. Separately, 26 faculty heard about our research team building expertise and requested materials via email. For the consultation service, we helped build or enhance 45 research teams from 2014 to 2020. By the end of the consultation, 100% of the faculty reported they were still maintaining their team. In the initial survey, the majority of participants (95.7%, n = 22) reported having no or few experiences in building teams. Further, when asked to rate their team's performance at 12-months, faculty highly rated many elements of both teamwork and taskwork, specifically their team's productivity (6/7 points), morale (6/7 points), and motivation (6/7 points). By the end of the program, faculty participants also highly rated two components of the consultation program: recruitment assistance (7/10 points) and provision of team management tools (7/10 points). CONCLUSIONS: For participating faculty, our program provided valued guidance on recruitment assistance and team management tools. The high demand for team-building resources suggests that junior faculty urgently need better training on how to develop and manage their own team.

Opioid Abuse Prevention and Treatment: Lessons From South Carolina.

CONTEXT: Opioid-related overdoses in the United States have increased by 33% over the past 5 years. America's opioid crisis is increasing across demographic groups and spreading geographically. South Carolina is one of the states in the southern region of the United States that experiences an unusually high rate of opioid-related deaths. In 2016, 616 deaths occurred in South Carolina from drug overdoses from prescription opioid drugs, up 9% from 2015. South Carolina residents filled nearly 4.5 million opioid prescriptions in 2015, which is greater than 1.5 times the national average. IMPLEMENTATION: In 2017, the governor of South Carolina declared a statewide public health emergency in response to the growing opioid crisis. In response, a committee of the South Carolina House of Representatives released a report in January 2018 on its opioid abuse prevention study and made recommendations on ways to reduce the number of opioid-related deaths. EVALUATION: This article examines the strengths and weaknesses of South Carolina's state action plan to combat opioid-related deaths in the context of what other states have done to address opioid abuse, as well as the scientific literature on pain management. Several state opioid action plans, including South Carolina's and West Virginia's, were identified and evaluated. DISCUSSION: This article describes (1) several legislative and nonlegislative strategies being considered in South Carolina for addressing the crisis, (2) an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of these proposals and how they compare with other states that have also implemented response plans, and (3) an examination of the scientific literature to determine best practices for treating patients who are currently taking opioids, as well as discussing alternative approaches to pain management. The authors make several recommendations to improve upon South Carolina's opioid abuse prevention plan, such as engaging communities and encouraging multistakeholder collaboration to expand access to treatment, particularly among the most vulnerable populations.

COVID-19-Related Changes to Drug-Selling Networks and Their Effects on People Who Use Illicit Opioids.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected people's ability to buy, sell, and obtain items that they use in their daily lives. It may have had a particularly negative effect on the ability of people who use illicit opioids to obtain them because the networks they relied on are illicit and not part of the formal economy. Our objective in this research was to examine if, and how, disruptions related to COVID-19 of illicit opioid markets have affected people who use illicit opioids. METHOD: We collected 300 posts--including replies to posts--related to the intersection of COVID-19 and opioid use from Reddit.com, a forum that has several discussion threads (i.e., subreddits) dedicated to opioids. We then coded posts from the two most popular opioid subreddits during the early pandemic period (March 5, 2020-May 13, 2020) using an inductive/deductive approach. RESULTS: We found two themes related to active opioid use during the early pandemic: (a) changes in drug supply and difficulty obtaining opioids, and (b) buying less-trustworthy drugs from lesser-known sources. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that COVID-19 has created market conditions that place people who use opioids at risk of adverse outcomes, such as fatal overdose.

Socially-supportive norms and mutual aid of people who use opioids: An analysis of Reddit during the initial COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Big events (i.e., unique historical disruptions) like the COVID-19 epidemic and its associated period of social distancing can transform social structures, social interactions, and social norms. Social distancing rules and the fear of infection have greatly reduced face-to-face interactions, increased loneliness, reduced ties to helping institutions, and may also have disrupted the opioid use behaviors of people who use drugs. This research used Reddit to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the social networks and social processes of people who use opioids. METHODS: Data were collected from the social media forum, Reddit.com. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. (March 5, 2020, to May 13, 2020), 2,000 Reddit posts were collected from the two most popular opioid subreddits (r/OpiatesRecovery, r/Opiates). Posts were reviewed for relevance to COVID-19 and opioid use resulting in a final sample of 300. Thematic analysis was guided by the Big Events framework. RESULTS: The COVID-19 pandemic was found to create changes in the social networks and daily lives among persons who use opioids. Adaptions to these changes shifted social networks leading to robust social support and mutual aid on Reddit, including sharing and seeking advice on facing withdrawal, dealing with isolation, managing cravings, and accessing recovery resources. CONCLUSIONS: Reddit provided an important source of social support and mutual aid for persons who use opioids. Findings indicate online social support networks are beneficial to persons who use opioids, particularly during big events where isolation from other social support resources may occur.

"How will I get my next week's script?" Reactions of Reddit opioid forum users to changes in treatment access in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic poses significant challenges to people with opioid use disorder (OUD). As localities enforce lockdowns and pass emergency OUD treatment regulations, questions arise about how these changes will affect access and retention in care. In this study, we explore the influence of COVID-19 on access to, experiences with, and motivations for OUD treatment through a qualitative analysis of public discussion forums on Reddit. METHODS: We collected data from Reddit, a free and international online platform dedicated to public discussions and user-generated content. We extracted 1000 of the most recent posts uploaded between March 5th and May 13th, 2020 from each of the two most popular opioid subreddits "r/Opiates" and "r/OpiatesRecovery" (total 2000). We reviewed posts for relevance to COVID-19 and opioid use and coded content using a hybrid inductive-deductive approach. Thematic analysis identified common themes related to study questions of interest. RESULTS: Of 2000 posts reviewed, 300 (15%) discussed topics related to the intersection of opioid use and COVID-19. Five major themes related to OUD treatment were identified: Concern about closure of OUD treatment services; transition to telehealth and virtual care; methadone treatment requirements and increased exposure to COVID-19; reactions to changing regulations on medications for OUD; and influences of the pandemic on treatment motivation and progress. CONCLUSION: In the face of unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19, reactions of Reddit opioid forum users ranged from increased distress in accessing and sustaining treatment, to encouragement surrounding new modes of treatment and opportunities to engage in care. New and less restrictive avenues for treatment were welcomed by many, but questions remain about how new norms and policy changes will be sustained beyond this pandemic and impact OUD treatment access and outcomes long-term.