Abstract
BackgroundOpioid use is a significant problem in Alaska. Medication-assisted treatment for opioid use, including buprenorphine, reduces withdrawal symptoms and the harm associated with opioid abuse. Understanding consumers’ treatment-seeking process is important for addressing barriers to treatment, facilitating effective service utilization, and informing policy.MethodsTo understand treatment-seeking behavior, we examined the attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge of those who would benefit from the medication-assisted treatment (MAT) buprenorphine. Qualitative data from 2 focus groups (each including 4 participants) and 3 in-depth interviews with people who have used or considered using buprenorphine in treatment for an opioid use disorder were analyzed using grounded theory and directed content analysis approaches.ResultsKey findings suggest that individual (withdrawal process, individual motivation) and systemic (sociocultural, political, societal values) factors frame the treatment seeking process. Participants’ progress on the treatment-seeking road was affected by models of addiction and MAT, which related to facilitators and barriers encountered in seeking treatment (e.g. support, resources, treatment structure). These factors shaped the longer-term road to recovery, which was seen as on ongoing process.ConclusionsThe findings of this study suggest it is crucial for interventionists to take a contextual approach that considers individual and systemic factors involved in opioid addiction, treatment, and recovery. This study highlights ways policy makers and treatment providers can address the barriers consumers face in their treatment-seeking process in order to increase treatment access.
Highlights
Opioid use is a significant problem in Alaska
Due to the sizable incidences of nonmedical prescription opioid initiation [2] and the harm associated with opioid use including rising rates of overdose [3], there is alleged to be a national opioid epidemic in the United States [3,4,5]
Disparities have been found in the services patients with co-occurring disorders receive, with those presenting for substance abuse, as opposed to mental health, treatment receiving less mental health care despite having the same diagnoses [8]
Summary
Opioid use is a significant problem in Alaska. Medication-assisted treatment for opioid use, including buprenorphine, reduces withdrawal symptoms and the harm associated with opioid abuse. Due to the sizable incidences of nonmedical prescription opioid initiation [2] and the harm associated with opioid use including rising rates of overdose [3], there is alleged to be a national opioid epidemic in the United States [3,4,5]. Opioid misuse is a noteworthy problem in the state of Alaska, which consistently ranks in the top ten states of the nation for illicit drug dependence [6]. In Alaska, the unmet treatment needs of citizens with drug dependence have consistently registered above the national average [6]. The rapidly rising rates of opioid misuse and the harm associated with nonmedical prescription opioid use compound the foregoing unmet needs of people who would benefit from behavioral health services
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