Primary Submission Category: Health care/services
“I still have the pain, the pain hurts”: Examining treatment journeys of people with opioid use disorder across the lifespan
Authors: Tracy R. Nichols, Sajib Rana, Meghann Reeder, Sophie Roe, Melissa N. Poulsen,
Presenting Author: Tracy Nichols*
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic disease that often co-presents with other mental and/or physical health disorders, including chronic pain. Recovery from OUD frequently involves entering and exiting multiple treatment centers, self-treatment endeavors, and engaging with other healthcare services and providers. Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) treatment options and access have been increasing, yet little is known about how accessing MOUD coincides with other healthcare needs. Since the needs and concerns of people who use drugs (PWUD) change across the lifespan, it is also important to understand treatment experiences at different life stages. A deeper understanding of experiences accessing services can inform strategies for increasing care engagement for this population. This presentation will describe the application of a life course perspective to PWUD’s experiences engaging in MOUD treatment services.
Using narrative analysis, we examined treatment journeys across the lifespan from 34 telephone interviews conducted with people who had received MOUD from an outpatient addiction treatment program within a healthcare system in a geographically diverse region of Pennsylvania. Participants’ ages ranged from 22 to 70 years with an even distribution by gender. The interview guide prompted participants to share their unique treatment journey of MOUD treatment, allowing them to describe other relevant care interactions. Transcripts were re-storied and then compared and contrasted within and across age groups.
This presentation will focus on how the role of chronic pain and other co-morbid conditions affect the treatment journeys of people with OUD across the lifespan. Example stories will be presented that illustrate the interaction of MOUD treatment with other healthcare experiences and chronic conditions. Stories will also be used to highlight potential cohort effects embedded within treatment journeys. Implications for care engagement will be discussed.