Structural and social changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on engagement in substance use disorder treatment services: a qualitative study among people with a recent history of injection drug use in Baltimore, Maryland

• Published in: Harm reduction journal Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 91 - 17
• Main Authors: Patel, Eshan U., Grieb, Suzanne M., Winiker, Abigail K., Ching, Jennifer, Schluth, Catherine G., Mehta, Shruti H., Kirk, Gregory D., Genberg, Becky L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 08.05.2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Agonists; Bacterial infections; Baltimore; Care and treatment; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - psychology; Drug abuse; Drug addicts; Drug dealing; Drug dosages; Drug traffic; Drug use; Drugs; Epidemics; Female; Fentanyl; Harm reduction; Health aspects; Health services; Health Services Accessibility; Hepatitis C; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Injection; Male; Medical research; Medication for opioid use disorder; Medicine, Experimental; Meetings; Mental health; Methadone; Middle Aged; Narcotics; Opioid agonist therapy; Opioid use disorder; Pandemics; Policies; Prescription drugs; Prevention; Public health; Qualitative Research; Recovery (Medical); Recovery support; Risk factors; SARS-CoV-2; Social aspects; Social change; Social networks; Social support; Substance abuse; Substance abuse treatment; Substance Abuse, Intravenous - psychology; Substance Abuse, Intravenous - rehabilitation; Substance use; Substance use disorder; Substance-Related Disorders - rehabilitation; Substance-Related Disorders - therapy; Support groups; Support services; Telemedicine; United States; Young Adult; Baltimore; United States; Maryland; United States > US; Baltimore Maryland; Fentanyl; Medication for opioid use disorder; Opioid agonist therapy; Recovery support; Opioid use disorder

Substance use disorder treatment and recovery support services are critical for achieving and maintaining recovery. There are limited data on how structural and social changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic impacted individual-level experiences with substance use disorder treatment-related services am...