Telehealth for people who inject drugs: An acceptable method of treatment but challenging to access

Abstract

Background While telemedicine is seen as an emerging practice that will outlast the COVID-19 pandemic, it can reduce health services for those with limited internet and technological devices access or sufficient literacy. Objective(s) The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of using telehealth with people who inject drugs (PWID). Methods A survey on availability and accessibility of different methods of communication was administered to a sample of PWID from an ongoing longitudinal cohort in Montréal, Canada. Results Among the 96 respondents, phone calls were generally considered acceptable (89.6%) although availability was low (50%). Acceptability and availability of social media were 26% and 41.7%, respectively. Internet-based communication applications were considered acceptable to use for telehealth in 28.1% of participants, even if not frequently available (8.3%). Conclusions Telehealth is an acceptable form of treatment for PWID, but may be challenging due to low availability of phone or internet access.