Researchers at the University of Arizona College of Nursing are testing an intervention to reduce staff stress and improve methadone patient treatment retention for opioid use disorder thanks to a $4.5 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a division of the National Institutes of Health.
More than 2,100 clinics in the United States offer methadone treatment for opioid addiction. Approximately 4.6 million people in the U.S. need treatment for opioid use disorder, but only 3 in 10 remain in methadone treatment, partially due to the varying quality of methadone treatment across the U.S.
If we can improve the quality of methadone treatment in the U.S., it would be a game changer. Access to this treatment can reduce opioid overdose deaths by 60%.”
Beth Meyerson, the Beverly Benson McCord endowed chair at the U of A College of Nursing and policy director for the Comprehensive Center for Pain and Addiction
Meyerson and her team have found that nurses, physicians and counselors in methadone clinics often experience high levels of stress that may reduce the quality of care.
Meyerson’s national clinical trial will examine whether a multi-modal intervention reduces work-related trauma and traumatic stress symptoms among methadone treatment staff, and whether that change improves treatment quality and patient retention.
The intervention was developed collaboratively with methadone treatment providers and patients. It includes psychoeducation about trauma-informed and evidence-based methadone treatment; anonymous screening for trauma symptoms and treatment referral; clinical reflective training for counselors, case managers and peer support staff; and a trauma-informed clinic assessment.
This work extends Meyerson’s prior research into improving methadone treatment, quality and access.
“Methadone’s history is fraught with stigma, and we have found that training to manage patients on methadone for opioid use disorder is woefully inadequate in schools of medicine and nursing,” Meyerson said. “Together, we can improve nursing and medical care for people with opioid use disorder by ensuring they receive the life-saving treatments they so desperately need.” The four-year study will also provide research training for undergraduate students, graduate students in nursing and medicine and postdoctoral fellows.
University of Arizona researchers joining Meyerson in this study include Zhanette Coffee, postdoctoral researcher and certified addiction registered nurse – advanced practice at the College of Nursing, and Patrick Rivers, biostatistician with the College of Medicine – Tucson’s Department of Family and Community Medicine. Co-investigators include researchers from the Arizona State University School of Social Work, Columbia University School of Social Work, Indiana University School of Nursing, University of Kentucky College of Public Health, New York University School of Global Health, Western Michigan University School of Interdisciplinary Health Programs, and the Southwest Recovery Alliance.
Source:
University of Arizona Health Sciences