Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-sjtt6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-04T01:12:57.306Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Response of tertiary addictions services to opioid dependence during the COVID-19 pandemic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2021

K. Hennigan ,
N. Corrigan ,
N. Killeen ,
M. Scully  and
E. Keenan
K. Hennigan*
Affiliation:
Galway-Roscommon Mental Health Services, University Hospital Galway, Galway, Ireland
N. Corrigan
Affiliation:
National Social Inclusion Office, Mill Lane, Palmerstown, Dublin 20, Ireland
N. Killeen
Affiliation:
National Social Inclusion Office, Mill Lane, Palmerstown, Dublin 20, Ireland
M. Scully
Affiliation:
HSE National Drug Treatment Centre, Pearse St, Dublin, Ireland
E. Keenan
Affiliation:
HSE National Drug Treatment Centre, Pearse St, Dublin, Ireland
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr Kieran Hennigan, Senior Registrar in General Adult/Addictions Psychiatry, Galway-Roscommon Mental Health Services, University Hospital Galway, Galway, Ireland. (Email: Kieran.Hennigan@hse.ie)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has presented the addiction services with an unprecedented set of challenges. Opioid users are particularly vulnerable because of their high level of pre-existing health problems and lifestyle factors. In order to minimise their risks to self and to others in the current Covid-19 crisis, addiction services sought to urgently identify vulnerable individuals, and induct them into opioid substitution treatment (OST) promptly. Additionally, several guidelines were created and regularly updated by the health and safety executive (HSE) for any healthcare staff working with opioid users. These include guidance documents, to facilitate prompt induction of patients onto the OST programme, the prescribing of naloxone to all patients at risk of overdose, eConsultation, medication management for those in self-isolation, and the delivery of injecting equipment. The guidance documents and resources will provide a template for a new way of working for the sector during these challenging times and into the future.

Keywords

AddictionCOVID 19dependencedrugopioidsubstitution
Type
Perspective Piece
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 38 , Issue 4 , December 2021 , pp. 301 - 306
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The College of Psychiatrists of Ireland

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Durand, L, O’Driscoll, D, Boland, F, Keenan, E, Ryan, BK, Barry, J, Bennett, K, Fahey, T, Cousins, G (2020). Do interruptions to the continuity of methadone maintenance treatment in specialist addiction settings increase the risk of drug-related poisoning deaths? A retrospective cohort study. Addiction 115, 1867–1877.10.1111/add.15004CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
EMCDDA (2011). 2011 Annual report on the state of the drugs problem in Europe. Retrieved from https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/annual-report/2011_en Google Scholar
EMCDDA (2020). EMCDDA update on the implications of COVID-19 for people who use drugs (PWUD) and drug service providers. Retrieved from https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/topic-overviews/catalogue/covid-19-and-people-who-use-drugs_en Google Scholar
Giese, C, Igoe, D, Gibbons, Z, Hurley, C, Stokes, S, McNamara, S, Ennis, O, O’Donnell, K, Keenan, E De Gascun, C (2015). Injection of new psychoactive substance snow blow associated with recently acquired HIV infections among homeless people who inject drugs in Dublin, Ireland, 2015. Eurosurveillance 20, 30036.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harnedy, N (2020). COVID 19 Interim clinical guidance for medicines management for isolation units for people who use drugs. Retrieved from https://www.hse.ie/eng/about/who/primarycare/socialinclusion/other-areas/health-inequalities/clinicalguidancemedicinesmanagement.pdf Google Scholar
Jiang, H, Su, H, Zhang, C, Liu, X, Li, R, Zhong, N, Zhao, M (2020). Challenges of methadone maintenance treatment during the COVID-19 epidemic in China: policy and service recommendations. European Neuropsychopharmacology. 35, 136–137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matusow, H, Benoit, E, Elliott, L, Dunlap, E, Rosenblum, A (2018). Challenges to opioid treatment programs after Hurricane Sandy: patient and provider perspectives on preparation, impact, and recovery. Substance Use & Misuse 53, 206–219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Palmer, F, Jaffray, M, Moffat, MA, Matheson, C, McLernon, DJ, Coutts, A, Haughney, J (2012). Prevalence of common chronic respiratory diseases in drug misusers: a cohort study. Primary Care Respiratory Journal 21, 377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sacerdote, P (2006). Opioids and the immune system. Palliative Medicine 20, 9–15.Google ScholarPubMed
Thylstrup, B, Clausen, T, Hesse, M (2015). Cardiovascular disease among people with drug use disorders. International Journal of Public Health 60, 659–668.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed