Background: Today’s healthcare system requires practitioners to acquire a level of confidence, knowledge, and personal desire that enables them to treat a growing clientele with substance use disorders (SUDs). Although SUDs impact millions of Americans, there are many barriers to receiving treatment. It is important to understand how occupational therapy (OT) practitioners’ perceptions of working with clients who experience SUDs relate to the knowledge and skills required to identify and provide treatment. Method: Two surveys, the Medical Regard Scale and modified Drug Problems Perceptions Scale, were utilized to analyze participants attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge around working with individuals with SUDs. Data was collected from 116 practitioners with a variety of experience, practice settings, and backgrounds in understanding SUDs. Results: The majority of respondents reported no formal training in treating clients with SUDs (72.4%). In terms of attitudes around working with this population, a fraction reported a preference not to work with patients experiencing SUDs (16.0%) or finding them “irritating” to work with (12.9%), while 62.0% reported they felt especially compassionate toward this population. The majority of respondents felt that insurance plans should cover patients like this to the same degree that they cover patients with other conditions; however, only 48.3% had a clear idea of their responsibilities in helping individuals with SUDs. In regard to knowledge around working with SUDs, just over half of respondents reported a true working knowledge of SUDs and SUDs related problems (53.4%). Conclusion: Occupational therapy practitioners would benefit from additional training, resources, and support related to provision of services to individuals with SUD. In addition, training to continue to reduce stigma within the profession can potentially increase access to care.
Date Presented 04/01/2022
Although substance use disorders (SUDs) affect millions of Americans, there are many barriers to receiving treatment. It is important to understand how OT practitioners’ perceptions of SUDs relate to knowledge and skills to identify and provide treatment. Survey results of 116 OT practitioners indicate that although there is interest in working with this population, a disparity of confidence and knowledge about SUDs signifies a need for further research and education.
Primary Author and Speaker: Amy Mattila
Additional Authors and Speakers: Gabriella Santacecilia, Rebecca Lacroix
Date Presented 04/02/2022
Health care students of today are the providers of the future. An interprofessional substance use disorder awareness program offers an opportunity for students to increase their knowledge and empowers them to work with individuals who have substance use disorder without bias or preconceived perceptions. OT practitioners need to ensure students have the knowledge and disposition to treat all patients equally, regardless of their diagnosis or disability.
Primary Author and Speaker: Gabriella Santacecilia
Additional Authors and Speakers: Rebecca Lacroix, Amy Mattila
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.