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Barriers to Care Experienced by Patients Who Inject Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis
OBJECTIVES: To identify the barriers to accessing health care and social services faced by people who inject drugs (PWID) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: This report is a sub-analysis of a larger qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with PWID...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8497648/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33840774 http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/ADM.0000000000000853 |
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author | Gleason, Emily Nolan, Nathanial S. Marks, Laura R. Habrock, Tracey Liang, Stephen Y. Durkin, Michael J. |
author_facet | Gleason, Emily Nolan, Nathanial S. Marks, Laura R. Habrock, Tracey Liang, Stephen Y. Durkin, Michael J. |
author_sort | Gleason, Emily |
collection | PubMed |
description | OBJECTIVES: To identify the barriers to accessing health care and social services faced by people who inject drugs (PWID) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: This report is a sub-analysis of a larger qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with PWID admitted to an academic medical center from 2017 to 2020 for an invasive injection-related infection. Standard qualitative analysis techniques, consisting of both inductive and deductive approaches, were used to identify and characterize the effects of COVID-19 on participants. RESULTS: Among the 30 PWID interview participants, 14 reported barriers to accessing health and addiction services due to COVID-19. As facilities decreased appointment availability or transitioned to telemedicine, PWID reported being unable to access services. Social distancing led to isolation or loneliness during hospital stays and in the community. Recovery meetings and support groups, critical to addiction recovery, were particularly affected. Other participants reported that uncertainty and fear of contracting the virus generated changes in behavior that led them to avoid seeking services. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 has disrupted health systems and social services, leading PWID to experience unprecedented barriers to accessing and maintaining health and addiction services in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Opioid use disorder management must be understood as a holistic process, and a multidisciplinary approach to ensuring comprehensive care, even in the midst of this pandemic, is needed. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8497648 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-84976482022-03-14 Barriers to Care Experienced by Patients Who Inject Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis Gleason, Emily Nolan, Nathanial S. Marks, Laura R. Habrock, Tracey Liang, Stephen Y. Durkin, Michael J. J Addict Med Brief Report OBJECTIVES: To identify the barriers to accessing health care and social services faced by people who inject drugs (PWID) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: This report is a sub-analysis of a larger qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with PWID admitted to an academic medical center from 2017 to 2020 for an invasive injection-related infection. Standard qualitative analysis techniques, consisting of both inductive and deductive approaches, were used to identify and characterize the effects of COVID-19 on participants. RESULTS: Among the 30 PWID interview participants, 14 reported barriers to accessing health and addiction services due to COVID-19. As facilities decreased appointment availability or transitioned to telemedicine, PWID reported being unable to access services. Social distancing led to isolation or loneliness during hospital stays and in the community. Recovery meetings and support groups, critical to addiction recovery, were particularly affected. Other participants reported that uncertainty and fear of contracting the virus generated changes in behavior that led them to avoid seeking services. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 has disrupted health systems and social services, leading PWID to experience unprecedented barriers to accessing and maintaining health and addiction services in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Opioid use disorder management must be understood as a holistic process, and a multidisciplinary approach to ensuring comprehensive care, even in the midst of this pandemic, is needed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2022 2021-04-08 /pmc/articles/PMC8497648/ /pubmed/33840774 http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/ADM.0000000000000853 Text en Copyright © 2021 American Society of Addiction Medicine This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic or until permissions are revoked in writing. Upon expiration of these permissions, PMC is granted a perpetual license to make this article available via PMC and Europe PMC, consistent with existing copyright protections. |
spellingShingle | Brief Report Gleason, Emily Nolan, Nathanial S. Marks, Laura R. Habrock, Tracey Liang, Stephen Y. Durkin, Michael J. Barriers to Care Experienced by Patients Who Inject Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis |
title | Barriers to Care Experienced by Patients Who Inject Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis |
title_full | Barriers to Care Experienced by Patients Who Inject Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis |
title_fullStr | Barriers to Care Experienced by Patients Who Inject Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis |
title_full_unstemmed | Barriers to Care Experienced by Patients Who Inject Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis |
title_short | Barriers to Care Experienced by Patients Who Inject Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis |
title_sort | barriers to care experienced by patients who inject drugs during the covid-19 pandemic: a qualitative analysis |
topic | Brief Report |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8497648/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33840774 http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/ADM.0000000000000853 |
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