Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder in Canadian Psychosocial Addiction Programs: A National Survey of Policy, Attitudes, and Practice

Original research
by
Hodgins, David C., Mathew Budd, & Gail Czukar

Release Date

2022

Geography

Canada

Language of Resource

English

Full Text Available

Yes

Open Access / OK to Reproduce

Yes

Peer Reviewed

Yes

Objective

To describe current approaches in treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) within Canadian psychosocial outpatient, day, and residential addiction treatment programs, with an emphasis on the use of opioid agonist therapy (OAT).

Findings/Key points

Most programs reported that they admitted clients on OAT (88%) and only a minority expected or encouraged clients to taper (14%) or discontinue (6%). Programs focusing on client abstinence as the treatment goal were more likely to expect or encourage tapering or discontinuation than programs that focus on helping clients achieve personal consumption goals. Of programs that did not currently facilitate OAT, 44% indicated that they would provide OAT, but lacked the necessary accreditation, physician support, or other resources. No philosophical objections to OAT were noted.

Design/methods

Survey (n=214)

Keywords

About prescribers
Substitution/OAT
Transitions in care/treatment