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.
Optimizing psychosocial support during office-based buprenorphine treatment in primary care: Patients’ experiences and preferences
Aaron D. Fox , Mariya Masyukova , Chinazo O. Cunningham
Substance Abuse
Vol. 37, Iss. 1, 2016
We conducted a qualitative study with buprenorphine treatment-experienced patients to inquire about the supportive aspects of treatment that they received and valued. Providers, policy makers, or health insurers may require buprenorphine-treated patients to participate in individual or group counseling outside of buprenorphine provider visits, but more intensive psychosocial interventions have not consistently demonstrated improved buprenorphine outcomes in studies. We found that participants derived psychosocial support from their prescribing physician, but were also open to collaborative or group-based models of care, as long as they were voluntary and confidential. The implications are that some buprenorphine patient may receive adequate psychosocial support from an effective physician provider, while other patients may desire peer support or more intensive counseling and would be open to collaborative care or group counseling. We believe that our findings call for tailored, patient-centered treatment plans, not universal mandates for buprenorphine patients, but group-based treatment models appear to be acceptable.
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Our newly released issue is now online —> January-March 2016.
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