Addressing racial & socioeconomic disparities in access to medications for opioid use disorder amid COVID-19

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created a devastating public health crisis, posing significant challenges for health care delivery in the US. The changes that the health care system implemented and the changes in the provision of social services have impacted efforts to address the ongoing opioid epidemic, and may worsen existing racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in access to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). Pre-COVID-19, research overlooked and the media excluded from its coverage the racial disparities in access to medications for OUD (MOUD) and the increasing rates of opioid overdoses in Black communities surrounding the opioid epidemic (James& Jordan, 2018).
Source: Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment - Category: Addiction Authors: Source Type: research