opioid treatment Archives

The Authors’ Own Words: Experiences of burnout among drug counselors in a large opioid treatment program: A qualitative investigation

Jan 9, 2020 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Experiences of burnout among drug counselors in a large opioid treatment program: A qualitative investigation

Mark Beitel PhD; Lindsay Oberleitner PhD; Dharushana Muthulingam MD, MSc; David Oberleitner PhD; Lynn M. Madden PhD, MPA; Ruthanne Marcus PhD, MPH; Anthony Eller BS; Madeline H. Bono; & Declan T. Barry, PhD

Substance Abuse Vol. 39, Iss. 2, 2018

“The scale-up of medication-assisted treatment is crucial for addressing the current opioid treatment gap in the US. One barrier to scale-up is concern about the impact on staff of increased patient volume. Finding from this quality improvement study of drug counselors, employed at large opioid treatment programs whose capacities were expanding, yielded lower than expected rates of burnout. Participants reported a variety of onsite (e.g., taking breaks) and offsite (e.g., taking an exercise class) coping strategies to prevent burnout. Many strategies were low-cost and transportable to other settings. Overall, our findings suggest that drug counselor burnout is not inevitable, and opioid treatment programs might benefit from routinely seeking counselor feedback on burnout and implementing practical recommendations to enhance staff engagement and reduce burnout.”

SAj 12 Days of Holiday Cheer! Day 3: 9th Most Viewed

Dec 15, 2019 by AMERSA

12 Days of Holiday Cheer – Celebrating Some of Our Best!

Day 3: 9th Most Read/Viewed:

Advanced Practice Nurses: Increasing Access to Opioid Treatment by Expanding the Pool of Qualified Buprenorphine Prescribers

Matthew Tierney, MS, PMHNP-BC; Deborah S. Finnell, DNS, PMHNP-BC, CARN-AP, FAAN; Madeline A. Naegle, PhD, CNS-PMH, BC, FAAN; Colleen LaBelle, BSN, RN-BC, CARN; & Adam J. Gordon, MD, MPH

SAj Volume 36, Issue 4

Abstract: This editorial is an appeal for all advanced practice nurses with appropriate prescriptive privileges and DEA licenses to be allowed to join physicians in prescribing buprenorphine to increase access to opioid agonist treatment and to reduce the harms associated with the opioid epidemic. Constituting a large proportion of US health care providers, advanced practice nurses can help stop this epidemic.

The Authors’ Own Words: Understanding and treating opioid use disorders in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer populations

Nov 29, 2019 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Understanding and treating opioid use disorders in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer populations

Michael P. Girouard, BA; Hilary Goldhammer, SM; & Alex S. Keuroghlian, MD, MPH

Substance Abuse Vol. 40, Iss. 3, 2019

“Our manuscript provides a commentary on the overlooked topic of opioid use disorders in LGBTQ populations. In this brief article, we bring awareness to the specific LGBTQ subpopulations most at risk of developing opioid use disorders and highlight the complex interplay between opioid use and sexual risk in LGBTQ subpopulations. Clinicians will find the article helpful in tailoring behavioral health interventions for LGBTQ people with opioid use disorders and will learn about a model program that meets the multifactorial needs of the LGBTQ population. Finally, those involved in research focused on curbing the opioid epidemic will find suggestions for how to be more inclusive of LGBTQ people in their studies.”

The Authors’ Own Words: Factors Associated with Contingency Management Adoption among Opioid Treatment Providers Receiving a Comprehensive Implementation Strategy

Nov 10, 2019 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Factors Associated with Contingency Management Adoption among Opioid Treatment Providers Receiving a Comprehensive Implementation Strategy

Sara J. Becker, PhD; Lourah M. Kelly, MA; Augustine W. Kang, MSc; Katherine I. Escobar, BA; Daniel D. Squires, PhD

Substance Abuse Vol. 40, Iss. 1, 2019

“Opioid-use disorder (OUD)-related overdoses and deaths have reached epidemic proportions in the United States, creating an urgent need to implement effective OUD treatments in community settings. The current study examined factors associated with successful implementation of an evidence-based behavioral treatment (contingency management) among OUD treatment providers who received a comprehensive implementation strategy called the Science to Service Laboratory. Providers who were younger, Non-Hispanic White, did not have specialty addiction licensure, and who perceived fewer patient-level barriers to adoption all had lower levels of CM adoption frequency. Findings have the potential to change practice by highlighting a need to refine implementation strategies for younger, more educated, and more diverse treatment providers, as well as a need to explicitly address patient-level barriers to implementation.“