Use of digital technology in addiction disorders

Bandawar, Mrunal; Narasimha, Venkata Lakshmi; Chand, Prabhat

doi:10.4103/psychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_21_18

Cited by 22 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…As an adjunct to traditional supervised consumption sites, online interventions have the potential to reduce drug overdose deaths and promote access to treatment, assessment, and prevention services [ 3 , 4 ]. Scale-up of online interventions has been recommended in response to the unique challenges faced by PWUD as these services reduce stigma, remove geographic barriers, and decrease associated costs [ 5 , 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility and acceptability of inserts promoting virtual overdose monitoring services (VOMS) in naloxone kits: a qualitative study

et al. 2023

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Background In response to the ongoing opioid epidemic, there have been efforts to develop novel harm reduction strategies alongside scaling of currently implemented programs. Virtual overdose monitoring services (VOMS) are a novel intervention which aims to reduce substance-related mortality through technology for those who are out of reach of current supervised consumption sites. Scaling of naloxone programs presents a unique opportunity to promote VOMS to people at risk of substance-related mortality. This study aims to explore the feasibility and acceptability of naloxone kit inserts in promoting awareness of VOMS. Method We used purposive and snowball sampling to recruit 52 key informants, including people who use drugs (PWUD) with experience using VOMS (n = 16), PWUD with no prior experience using VOMS (n = 9), family members of PWUD (n = 5), healthcare and emergency services professionals (n = 10), community-based harm reduction organizations (n = 6), and VOMS administrators/peer support workers (n = 6). Two evaluators completed semi-structured interviews. Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis informed to identify key themes. Results Four key interrelated themes emerged, including the acceptability of naloxone kit inserts to promote VOMS, best practices for implementation, key messaging to include within promotional materials and facilitators to dissemination of harm reduction material. Participants highlighted that messaging should be promoted both inside and outside the kits, should be concise, provide basic information about VOMS and can be facilitated through current distribution streams. Messaging could further be used to draw attention to local harm reduction services and could be promoted on other supplies, including lighters and safer consumption supplies. Conclusion Findings demonstrate that it is acceptable to promote VOMS within naloxone kits and highlight interviewees preferred ways to do so. Key themes that emerged from interviewees can be used to inform the dissemination of harm reduction information, including VOMS and bolster current strategies for reducing illicit drug overdose.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility and acceptability of inserts promoting virtual overdose monitoring services (VOMS) in naloxone kits: a qualitative study

et al. 2023

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“…The increased use of mobile technologies such as smart phones has provided an opportunity for creating innovative solutions to address healthcare challenges (6). Digital interventions for drug use have been increasing at a quick pace over the past decade (7). They can complement practitioners-delivered interventions by offering information, monitoring and behavioral support to the clients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acceptability of using mobile Health (mHealth) as an intervention tool for People with Drug Use Disorders in Tanga, Tanzania

Munishi

Ndumwa

Massawe

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background: With the increasing numbers of people with drug use disorders (PWDUD) in Tanzania as in other parts of the world the need for innovative interventions specifically tailored for this population has increased. Tanga, a coastal region on the Northeast of Tanzania has the second highest number of PWDUD in Tanzania. Evidence on the additional benefit in treatment and recovery process among PWDUD using digital health interventions is lacking. This study aimed to describe the acceptability of using a digital intervention to increase information access for PWDUD in Tanga region, Tanzania. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study using both quantitative and qualitative approaches was conducted in Tanga Municipality and Muheza District. The quantitative approach used face to face interviews with a pre-tested questionnaire with 465 participants, while the quantitative method was carried out through In-Depth Interviews with 12 participants by the saturation point. Analysis was done descriptively to generate frequencies, cross tabulations, and chi-square test used to examine associations between categorical variables. Thematic analysis using codes was used to analyze qualitative data. Results: Majority of the PWDUD 67.6% do not own mobile phones. Out of the 156 participants with mobile phones, only 6.4% owned a smartphone. Most of the participants, 83.6%, reported to live with someone who owns a mobile phone. Importantly, a significant number of participants, 98.5% from both areas showed readiness to use mobile phones to access information about the harmful use of substance and substance use disorder treatment options. Participants described how mobile phones can be useful to them in accessing information related to treatment and access to treatment options. The reasons they gave for not owning mobile phones included the need of money to buy drugs and the lack of money to buy credit drives them to sell their phones. A digital app called Huru app was developed during study as part of an information sharing campaign on substance use. Conclusion and recommendations: The findings of this study helped to inform the target audience for the developed Huru app that should not be only PWDUD but the community at large. Despite the participants having expressed high readiness to use mobile phones to access drug use disorder treatment information, only few of them were found to own mobile phones but reported to live with family members who own mobile phones. Thus, a mobile phone intervention should also target their family members who are key in supportive treatment.

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“…The increased use of mobile technologies such as smart phones has provided an opportunity for creating innovative solutions to address healthcare challenges [ 7 ]. Digital interventions for drug use have been increasing at a quick pace over the past decade [ 8 ]. They can complement practitioners-delivered interventions by offering information, monitoring and behavioral support to the clients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acceptability of using mobile Health (mHealth) as an intervention tool for people with drug use disorders in Tanga, Tanzania

Munishi,

Ndumwa,

Massawe

et al. 2023

PLOS Digit Health

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Evidence on the additional benefit in treatment and recovery process among PWDUD using digital health interventions is lacking. This study aimed to describe the acceptability of using a digital intervention to increase information access for PWDUD in Tanga region, Tanzania. This study was conducted among 465 participants in Tanga, a coastal region on the Northeast of Tanzania has the second highest number of PWDUD in Tanzania. This cross-sectional descriptive study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The majority of the PWDUD 67.6% do not own mobile phones. Out of the 156 participants with mobile phones, only 6.4% owned a smartphone. Most of the participants, 83.6%, reported living with someone who owns a mobile phone. Importantly, a significant number of participants, 98.5% from both areas showed readiness to use mobile phones to access information about the harmful use of substance and substance use disorder treatment options. Participants described how mobile phones can be useful to them in accessing information related to treatment and access to treatment options. The findings of this study helped to inform the target audience for the developed Huru App that should not be only PWDUD but the community at large.

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Use of digital technology in addiction disorders

Cited by 22 publications

References 41 publications

Feasibility and acceptability of inserts promoting virtual overdose monitoring services (VOMS) in naloxone kits: a qualitative study

Feasibility and acceptability of inserts promoting virtual overdose monitoring services (VOMS) in naloxone kits: a qualitative study

Acceptability of using mobile Health (mHealth) as an intervention tool for People with Drug Use Disorders in Tanga, Tanzania

Acceptability of using mobile Health (mHealth) as an intervention tool for people with drug use disorders in Tanga, Tanzania

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