Barriers to retention in inpatient and residential drug treatment among persons who use opioids and/or injection drugs living in the rural U.S.
R J Fredericksen, L S Mixson, A T Estadt, G Leichtling, J Bresett, W Zule, S M Walters, P D Friedmann, E Romo, B M Whitney, J A C Delaney, H M Crane, J I Tsui, A Young, D Seal, T J Stopka
Author Information
R J Fredericksen: University of Washington, Department of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA. Electronic address: rfrederi@uw.edu.
L S Mixson: University of Washington, Department of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
A T Estadt: Ohio State University, College of Public Health, Columbus, OH, USA.
G Leichtling: Comagine Health, Seattle, WA, USA.
J Bresett: Southern Illinois University, School of Human Sciences, Carbondale, IL, USA.
W Zule: RTI International, Durham, NC, USA.
S M Walters: New York University, School of Global Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
P D Friedmann: University of Massachusetts, Department of Medicine, Springfield, MA, USA.
E Romo: University of Massachusetts, Clinical and Population Health Research, Springfield, MA, USA.
B M Whitney: University of Washington, Department of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
J A C Delaney: University of Washington, Department of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
H M Crane: University of Washington, Department of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
J I Tsui: University of Washington, Department of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
A Young: University of Kentucky, Department of Epidemiology, Lexington, KY, USA.
D Seal: Tulane University, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
T J Stopka: Tufts University, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
AIM: Barriers to retention in inpatient and residential care for persons who use drugs are understudied in the rural context. We sought to better understand barriers to retention in inpatient and residential drug treatment in a large, multi-site, geographically diverse sample of persons who use opioids and/or injection drugs in the rural U.S. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured individual interviews with persons currently using opioids and/or injection drugs in 9 U.S. states, including Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Content areas included substance use history and experiences with all modalities of drug treatment. We performed initial structural coding followed by an iterative "open-coding" process of itemizing and categorizing content within each code, and a multi-coder memoing process to summarize themes. We identified themes using three levels of the Social-Ecological Model (SEM): individual, interpersonal, and facility-level (organizational) barriers. RESULTS: Among 304 interviewed, over half (n = 166, 54 %) reported having experienced inpatient and residential treatment. Lack of treatment retention was driven by interrelated factors at all levels of the SEM. Person-level factors inhibiting retention included lack of readiness to stop using, which was particularly true for court-ordered treatment, and dislike of "freedom limitations". The sole interpersonal-level factor was the influence of other patients on re-initiation of drug use. Facility-level barriers included unaddressed withdrawal symptoms and lack of access to MOUD, staff relatability, inadequate staff training, and, particularly in residential treatment, lack of structure and supervision. Lack of preparation for coping with real-world triggers was seen as a barrier to engagement in ongoing treatment. CONCLUSION: Barriers to retention in inpatient and residential substance use treatment were present at three levels of the SEM. Interviews suggest much room for improvement in inpatient and residential drug treatment programs with respect to improving access to MOUD, tailoring content to better address social challenges in the rural context, and improving quality control measures with respect to staff and resident supervision.
