Substance abuse : official publication of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse
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Residents feel unprepared to care for patients with chronic pain on long-term opioids who exhibit signs of prescription opioid misuse. ⋯ A brief training can improve residents' self-reported knowledge and confidence in managing patients with chronic pain and safe opioid prescribing practices. How this change in confidence affects patient care requires further study.
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Overdose from opioids is a serious public health and clinical concern. Veterans are at increased risk for opioid overdose compared with the civilian population, suggesting the need for enhanced efforts to address overdose prevention in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care settings, such as primary care clinics. ⋯ Findings demonstrate that some providers believe they lack knowledge of opioid overdose prevention techniques and hold concerns about OEND implementation. More training of medical providers outside substance use treatment settings is needed, with particular attention to concerns about harmful consequences resulting from the receipt of naloxone.
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No psychometrically validated instrument for evaluating the extent to which interventionists correctly implement brief interventions designed to motivate treatment engagement for opioid use disorders has been reported in the literature. The objective of this study was to develop and examine the psychometric properties of the Brief Negotiation Interview (BNI) Adherence Scale for Opioid Use Disorders (BAS-O). ⋯ This study suggests that the BAS-O is a psychometrically valid measure of adherence to the specialized BNI for motivating treatment engagement in patients with opioid use disorders, thus providing a brief (13-item), objective method of evaluating BNI skill performance.
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Given that opioid misuse/abuse and opioid overdose have reached epidemic proportions in the United States, expansion of naloxone access programs are desperately needed. The objective of this study was to describe emerging trends in naloxone rescue kit (NRK) prescription patterns by pharmacists in New Mexico as an example of a unique health care delivery system. ⋯ These results indicate that patients at risk of opioid overdose might feel comfortable soliciting NRKs from a pharmacist. Participation of pharmacists in rural areas in the naloxone prescriptive authority highlight the opportunity for this novel health care delivery model in underserved areas; however, the program is clearly underutilized in these areas. Such a model can provide expanded patient access in community practices, whereas systematic efforts for uptake of the program by policy makers, communities, and pharmacists continue to be needed nationwide.
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Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is a practical means to address substance misuse in primary care. Important barriers to implementing SBIRT include adequacy of training and provider confidence as well as logistical hurdles and time constraints. A faculty development initiative aimed at increasing SBIRT knowledge and treatment of substance use disorders (SUDs) should lead to increased use of SBIRT by faculty and the residents they teach. This study examined how a faculty development program to promote SBIRT influenced faculty practice and resident teaching. ⋯ SBIRT is a highly valued set of skills, and training may enhance rates of screening for substance misuse. However, participants did not report a substantial change in SBIRT teaching as a result of faculty development. In the future, small, targeted faculty development sessions, potentially involving strategies for using the electronic health record (EHR), may be an effective way to enhance primary care SBIRT skills.