Release Date
Geography
Language of Resource
Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
To examine provider (prescribing clinicians and allied health professionals) and patient perspectives on diversion of opioids prescribed in safer supply programs.
Findings/Key points
Diversion encompasses a wide spectrum of practices (selling, sharing, and loss of medications), and occurs for complex reasons that surveillance and punitive measures are unlikely to mitigate. Diversion may be best addressed by expanding medication options to better match patients’ diverse substance use needs and high tolerance, alongside wraparound social supports.
Design/methods
In 2021, qualitative interviews and sociodemographic questionnaires were conducted with patients and providers across 4 safer supply programs in Ontario, Canada. Interviews with 21 providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, and allied health professionals) and 52 patients examined experiences implementing safer supply or receiving care.
