Mal/adaptations: A qualitative evidence synthesis of opioid agonist therapy during major disruptions

Lit review
par
Salamanca-Buentello, Fabio et al

Date de publication

2021

Géographie

Canada

Langue de la ressource

English

Texte disponible en version intégrale

Oui

Open Access / OK to Reproduce

Oui

Évalué par des pairs

Yes

L’objectif

Opioid agonist therapy (OAT) has been severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The risks of opioid withdrawal, overdose, and diversion have increased, so there is an urgent need to adapt OAT to best support people who use drugs (PWUD). This review examines the views and experiences of PWUD, health care providers, and health system administrators on OAT during major disruptions to medical care to inform appropriate health system responses during the current pandemic and beyond.

Constatations/points à retenir

We organized our results into three themes: uncertainty, inconsistency, and vulnerability; regulatory inflexibility; and lack of coordination. The highly regulated but poorly coordinated systems of OAT provision lacked flexibility to adapt to major disruptions, thereby manufacturing vulnerability for both PWUD and health workers.

La conception ou méthodologie de recherche

Systematic review examined OAT in the context of hurricanes, earthquakes, and terrorist attacks

Mots clés

Harm reduction
Policy/Regulatory
Equity
About prescribers
About PWUD
Barriers and enablers