Responding to COVID-19: Emerging Practices in Addiction Medicine in 17 Countries

Scheibein, Florian; Stowe, M. J.; Arya, Sidharth; Morgan, Nirvana; Shirasaka, Tomohiro; Grandinetti, Paolo; Saad, Noha Ahmed; Ghosh, Abhishek; Vadivel, Ramyadarshni; Ratta‐apha, Woraphat; Pant, Sagun Ballav; Ransing, Ramdas; Ramalho, Rodrigo; Bruschi, Angelo; Maiti, Tanay; Ha, Anne Yee; Delić, M.; Jain, Shobhit; Peyron, Eric; Siste, Kristiana; Boujraf, Saïd; Dannatt, Lisa; Schellekens, Arnt; Calvey, Tanya

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.634309

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…At a national level, many countries, such as India, the UK, Australia and Norway, formulated guidance documents that included management guidelines, information and education materials related to SUDs. 10 In Indonesia, anti-retroviral drugs for people with SUDs were delivered to their residences. In Indonesia, addiction specialists were deployed for COVID-19 care, resulting in considerably fewer healthcare professionals available to service patients with SUDs.…”

Section: Impact Of Covid-19 On Treatment Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harm reduction and abstinence-based models for treatment of substance use disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic: a global perspective

et al. 2022

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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected treatment services for people with substance use disorders (SUDs). Based on the perspectives of service providers from eight countries, we discuss the impact of the pandemic on SUD treatment services. Although many countries quickly adapted in provision of harm reduction services by changes in policy and service delivery, some went into a forced abstinence-based strategy. Similarly, disruption of abstinence-based approaches such as therapeutic communities has been reported. Global awareness is crucial for responsible management of SUDs during the pandemic, and the development of international health policy guidelines is an urgent need in this area.

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Section: Impact Of Covid-19 On Treatment Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harm reduction and abstinence-based models for treatment of substance use disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic: a global perspective

et al. 2022

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“…A review of country-level briefing notes developed 6 months after COVID-19's worldwide outbreak found eight countries advocated for increased telehealth solutions to addiction care. In addition, the researchers found that nonopioid addictions, including gambling and video gaming, were neglected by all but two country documents, New Zealand and Japan [23].…”

Section: Silver Liningsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telehealth treatment for gambling disorder in the COVID-19 era: seismic shifts and silver linings

Smith¹,

Jones²,

Lucia³

2022

Current Opinion in Psychiatry

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Purpose of reviewGambling disorder is a serious mental health condition and the only behavioral addiction currently recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. Though prevalence and treatment seeking for gambling disorder have been stable for decades, the global COVID-19 pandemic has created a seismic shift in societal factors that influence gambling disorder and treatment availability. At the same time, the increasing availability of telehealth therapy for gambling disorder offers a new way to provide specialized treatment nationwide.Recent findingsThe present review discusses the seismic shifts in underlying risk factors, gambling availability, and reduced access to treatment. It also covers the emergence of telehealth treatment for gambling disorder, including its benefits and pitfalls.SummaryIn separate commentaries, several experts hypothesized that the pandemic was likely to increase mental health risk factors in society such as social isolation, job loss, and stress. In addition, access to online gambling also increased, while countries that locked down more strictly (like Singapore) saw a reduction in terrestrial gambling, countries that did not lock down strictly (like Sweden) did not see changes in gambling behavior. Telehealth was almost universally recommended as a good option for treatment in the studies we reviewed, though proper training and staffing are needed for telehealth to prove effective. Gambling disorder was only included in nationwide addiction telehealth programs in two countries.

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“…The emergence of COVID‐19 in early 2020 generated a number of concerns for OAT patients and service providers [ 10 , 11 , 12 ], including: The need for effective social distancing and social isolation to protect patients, health workers and their social contacts. The increased vulnerability of an ageing patient population to COVID‐related morbidity and mortality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020 generated a number of concerns for OAT patients and service providers [10][11][12], including:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The emergence of COVID‐19 in early 2020 generated a number of concerns for OAT patients and service providers [10–12], including: The need for effective social distancing and social isolation to protect patients, health workers and their social contacts. The increased vulnerability of an ageing patient population to COVID‐related morbidity and mortality. Potential for increased demand for opioid treatment arising through reductions in access to other alcohol and other drugs treatment services during the pandemic (e.g. hospital admissions, residential rehabilitation programs, self‐help groups), increased release of patients into the community from prison and disruption of illicit drug distribution networks. A number of features of the traditional Australian OAT model of care, such as daily supervised dosing, were considered incompatible with the principles of social distancing and isolation required during the COVID‐19 pandemic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Opioid agonist treatment and patient outcomes during the COVID‐19 pandemic in south east Sydney, Australia

Lintzeris

Deacon

Hayes

et al. 2021

Drug and Alcohol Review

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Introduction In early 2020, many services modified their delivery of opioid treatment in response to the COVID‐19 pandemic, to limit viral spread and maintain treatment continuity. We describe the changes to treatment and preliminary analysis of the association with patients' substance use and well‐being. Methods A pre‐post comparison of treatment conditions and patient self‐reported outcomes using data extracted from electronic medical records in the 5 months before (December 2019–April 2020) and after (May 2020–September 2020) changes were implemented in three public treatment services in South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. Results Data are available for 429/460 (93%) patients. Few (21, 5%) dropped out of treatment. In the ‘post’ period there was significantly more use of depot buprenorphine (12–24%), access to any take‐away doses (TAD; 24–69%), access to ≥6 TAD per week (7–31%), pharmacy dosing (24–52%) and telehealth services. There were significant reductions in average opioid and benzodiazepine use, increases in cannabis use, with limited group changes in social conditions, or quality of life, psychological and physical health. At an individual level, 22% of patients reported increases in their use of either alcohol, opioids, benzodiazepines or stimulants of ≥4 days in the past 4 weeks. Regression analysis indicates increases in substance use were associated with higher levels of supervised dosing. Discussion and Conclusions These preliminary findings suggest that the modified model of care continued to provide safe and effective treatment, during the pandemic. Notably, there was no association between more TAD and significant increases in substance use. Limitations are discussed and further evaluation is needed.

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Responding to COVID-19: Emerging Practices in Addiction Medicine in 17 Countries

Cited by 8 publications

References 5 publications

Harm reduction and abstinence-based models for treatment of substance use disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic: a global perspective

Harm reduction and abstinence-based models for treatment of substance use disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic: a global perspective

Telehealth treatment for gambling disorder in the COVID-19 era: seismic shifts and silver linings

Opioid agonist treatment and patient outcomes during the COVID‐19 pandemic in south east Sydney, Australia

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