One 20-Minute Call May Encourage Medication Treatment, Lower Overdose Risk in Patients With OUD

Receiving a 20-minute phone call from a trained peer counselor may help prompt people who have overdosed on opioids to begin medication treatment and lower their risk of another opioid overdose, suggests astudy in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.Theresa Winhusen, Ph.D., of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and colleagues compared the rates of medication treatment enrollment, opioid overdose, and opioid use in 80 patients who were randomized to receive either standard education or education with a personalized call. Standard education consisted of an information packet with three reports that were generated from the patient ’s responses to two surveys, the Personal Opioid-Overdose Risk Survey and the Opioid Overdose and Treatment Awareness Survey (OOTAS). Those in the intervention group received the standard education as well as the phone call. All patients received a naloxone nasal spray kit.Peer counselors were enrolled in a medication treatment program for at least a year; had not used opioids for at least a year; and had experienced, witnessed, or lost a family member or friend to an overdose. They completed practice calls as part of their training, and they were required to score at least 90% on the OOTAS. All told, training and certification as a peer counselor took four hours. During the phone call with the patient, the peer counselor discussed medication treatment and answered the patient ’s questions. The peer counselors were provided with guidelines fo...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Drug and Alcohol Dependence Medication treatment naloxone opioid use disorder opioids peer support phone calls Source Type: research