Providers' knowledge and perception of xylazine in the unregulated drug supply: a sequential explanatory mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND: Xylazine is increasingly prevalent in the unregulated opioid supply in the United States. Exposure to this adulterant can lead to significant harm, including prolonged sedation and necrotic wounds. In the absence of literature describing healthcare providers' experiences with treating patients who have been exposed to xylazine, we aimed to explore what gaps must be addressed to improve healthcare education and best practices. METHODS: From October 2023 to February 2024, we conducted a sequential explanatory mixed-methods study, with (1) a quantitative survey phase utilizing convenience sampling of healthcare providers treating patients in Connecticut and (2) a qualitative semi-structured interview phase utilizing purposive sampling of providers with experience treating patients with xylazine exposure. Summary statistics from the survey were tabulated; interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Seventy-eight eligible healthcare providers participated in our survey. Most participants had heard of xylazine (n = 69, 95.8%) and had some knowledge about this adulterant; however, fewer reported seeing one or more patients exposed to xylazine (n = 46, 59.8%). After sampling from this subgroup, we conducted fifteen in-depth interviews. This qualitative phase revealed five themes: (1) while xylazine is novel and of concern, this is not necessarily exceptional (i.e., there are other emerging issues for patients who use drugs); (2) participants perceived that xylazine was increasingly prevalent in the drug supply, even if they were not necessarily seeing more patients with xylazine-related outcomes (XROs); (3) patients primarily presented with non-XROs, making it difficult to know when conversations about xylazine were appropriate; (4) patients with XROs may experience issues accessing healthcare; (5) providers and their patients are learning together about how to minimize XROs and reduce the sense of helplessness in the face of a novel adulterant. CONCLUSIONS: Xylazine-specific education for healthcare providers is currently insufficient. Improving this education, as well as resources (e.g., drug checking technologies) and data (e.g., research on prevention and treatment of XROs), is crucial to improve care for patients who use drugs.

Strategic planning for addiction programs within academic medical centers: Examples from the Yale Program in Addiction Medicine.

Background Addiction programs at academic medical centers must navigate complex, multidisciplinary environments as they work to advance the field and improve substance use treatment access and outcomes. Programs can employ strategic planning processes to identify goals and strategies for success. Methods: The Yale Program in Addiction Medicine began a series of strategic planning activities in February 2020 with the primary aims of (1) conducting a point-in-time needs assessment for the Program and (2) identifying goals for Program improvement and expansion. Drawing upon a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis framework and the Delphi method for group decision-making, these strategic planning activities were implemented in four steps involving multimodal engagement and iterative feedback amongst Program faculty and selected stakeholders. Results: Primary deliverables included four overarching programmatic goals, associated action items, strategies for success, a proposed implementation timeline, and a revised Mission, Vision, and Values statement for the Program. Conclusion: Methodologic considerations and environmental factors offer insight into the strengths, limitations, and adaptive potential of this approach as well as others described in the literature. Key outputs highlight the benefits and timeliness of strategic planning for addiction programs, as heightened interest and investment in substance use treatment, prevention, and harm reduction paves the way for opportunity and innovation.

Development of a Patient and Clinician Informed Website on Injection Drug Use Related Infective Endocarditis.

BACKGROUND: Few patient-facing educational materials and interventions exist for the prevention of injection drug use-related infective endocarditis (IDU-IE). We developed a patient and clinician-informed website for patients about IDU-IE to promote education and prevention strategies. METHODS: This mixed-methods study integrated surveys and semi-structured interviews with patients and clinician to develop a patient website about IDU-IE. Patient participants included hospitalized adults with an opioid use disorder, history of injection drug use, and an injection drug use-related infection. Interprofessional healthcare clinicians including trainees participated. A baseline survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients to understand knowledge of IDU-IE and preferences in educational materials content and format. Interviews were analyzed using rapid qualitative analysis. Results informed development of the patient website. Finally, patients and clinicians provided 2 rounds of survey feedback after reviewing the website, assessing the likelihood of using and recommending it to others, helpfulness of information in the website sections, and content satisfaction. RESULTS: Patient participants (n = 15) reported low baseline understanding of injection practice and risk of IDU-IE. After reviewing the website (n = 17), patients reported they were very likely to recommend the website as a reference for themselves (mean of 4.3; 4 = very likely) and for others (mean = 4.3). They found the following sections, on average, to be very helpful (4 = very helpful): complications from injection drug use (4.4), safer injection practice (4.4), and information about infective endocarditis (4.4). Patients on average were satisfied with the website content overall (4.8). Clinicians (n = 27) reported, on average, being very likely to recommend this website to a patient (4.4) and to use the website to counsel patients (4.1). CONCLUSIONS: A patient and clinician-informed website on IDU-IE is acceptable for patients and clinicians to use as a patient education resource to help prevent IDU-IE-related harms.

Availability of Specific Programs and Medications for Addiction Treatment to Vulnerable Populations: Results from the Addiction Treatment Locator, Assessment, and Standards (ATLAS) Survey.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe addiction treatment facilities by their offerings of medications for alcohol use disorder (MAUD) and/or for opioid use disorder (MOUD), and by their offering services to groups with barriers to care: uninsured and publicly insured, youth, seniors, individuals preferring to receive care in Spanish, and sexual minority individuals. METHODS: We examined addiction treatment facility survey data in 6 US states. We performed bivariate analyses comparing facilities that offered MAUD, MOUD, and both (main outcomes). We then constructed a multivariable model to identify predictors of offering MAUD, MOUD, or both, including exposures that demonstrate programming for special populations. RESULTS: Among 2474 facilities, 1228 (50%) responded between October 2019 and January 2020. Programs were offered for youth (30%), elderly (40%), Spanish-speaking (37%), and sexual minority populations (39%), with 58% providing MAUD, 67% providing MOUD, and 56% providing both. Among those providing MAUD, MOUD, or both, a majority (>60% for all exposures) offered programming to vulnerable populations. With Delaware as reference, Louisiana (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.12-0.67) and North Carolina (aOR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.15-0.72) facilities had lesser odds of offering both MAUD and MOUD. All exposures identifying facilities offering treatment to vulnerable groups were associated with offerings of MAUD and/or MOUD except for offerings to youth; these facilities had less odds of offering MOUD (aOR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.31-0.62). CONCLUSIONS: There are facility-level disparities in providing MAUD and MOUD by state, and facilities with youth programming have lesser odds of offering MOUD than other facilities.

Associations between Patient Experience and Addiction Treatment Facility Services: Results of the Addiction Treatment Locator, Assessment, and Standards Surveys.

OBJECTIVES: Patient experience and presence of evidence-based facility services are 2 dimensions of assessing quality of addiction treatment facilities. However, the relationship between these two is not well described. The objective of this study was to explore associations between patient experience measures and service offerings at addiction treatment facilities. METHODS: We used data from cross-sectional surveys of addiction treatment facilities and persons involved in treatment at corresponding facilities to identify facility services (eg, availability of medications for alcohol use disorder, assistance with obtaining social services, etc) and patient experience measures (overall facility rating, extent helped by treatment, ability to deal with daily problems after treatment), respectively. We used hierarchical multiple logistic regression to test for associations between top-box scores for each patient experience outcome and facility services. RESULTS: We analyzed 9191 patient experience surveys from 149 facilities. Assistance with obtaining social services (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 0.43 [0.28-0.66]) was associated with lower overall treatment facility ratings. Childcare (2.00 [1.04-3.84]) was associated with top-box scores for extent helped. Availability of cognitive behavioral therapy (2.67 [1.25-5.73]) and childcare (1.77 [1.08-2.92]) were associated with top-box scores for ability to deal with daily problems after treatment. Assistance with obtaining social services (0.61 [0.41-0.90]) was associated with lower scores for ability to deal with problems after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Few addiction treatment facility services were associated with patient experience measures. Future work should explore bridging the gap between evidence-based services and positive patient experiences.