Acceptability of, and barriers and facilitators to, a pilot physical health service for people who inject drugs: A qualitative study with service users and providers

Original research
by
Anderson, Niall C. et al

Release Date

2022

Geography

UK

Language of Resource

English

Full Text Available

No

Open Access / OK to Reproduce

No

Peer Reviewed

Yes

Objective

This study explored the acceptability of, and barriers and facilitators to, embedding a pilot physical healthcare service within a community-based drug service in the United Kingdom (Bristol, England).

Findings/Key points

The service was viewed as highly acceptable. Service users and providers were confident they could access and provide the service respectively, and perceived it to be effective. Barriers included competing priorities of service users (e.g. drug use) and the wider service (e.g. equipment), and the potential impact of the service being removed in future was viewed as a barrier to overall healthcare access. Both service users and providers viewed embedding the physical health service within an existing community-based drug service as facilitating accessible and holistic care which reduced stigma and discrimination.

Design/methods

Interviews with n=13 PWUD + n=11 service providers

Keywords

Wrap-around services
Social services
Barriers and enablers
Stigma