Table 3 Caregivers’ ideas for improving opioid use treatments for young people by needs themes
Caregiver Needs Themes a | N b | Ideas Themes c | Representative Individual Idea d |
|---|---|---|---|
Main Need Theme: Expand organizational and systems-level capacity | |||
1. More timely access to care | 62 | • Increase availability of beds for detox, treatment, and stabilization (n = 21) | “More beds available in stabilization and treatment” |
• Centralized information about service options, requirements, and current wait times (n = 12) | “Create a service map showing all the resources and supports available to youth using opioids” | ||
• Instant access to peer-based services (n = 7) | “Instant access to peers at hospitals” | ||
• Flexible service delivery hours (n = 7) | “Change service hours. 9:00 am is quiet so instead of 9-4, change to 11 am-7 pm” | ||
• Instant access to navigators (n = 5) | “A person that can help parents navigate all the systems, point them in the right direction, give contacts” | ||
• Assign addictions teams at critical events (e.g., first hospitalization, overdose, arrest, etc.) (n = 4) | “Every kid should have a care team. If they overodose, or you have police come to your house, you get this team of people assigned” | ||
• E-health interventions (n = 3) | “An app for kids to communicate with professionals discreetly” | ||
• Drop-in and on-call services (n = 3) | “On-call youth and family advocates” | ||
2. Flexible and comprehensive care | 73 | • Peer connections across the journey (n = 17) | “Peer mentoring programs for youth with substance use disorders” |
• Family involvement in treatment plans (n = 13) | “Service providers to revisit with youth on a continuous basis how they would like family involved” | ||
• Provide services that reflect youths’ developmental needs (n = 10) | “Expand concept of treatment plan to nature, outings, art, etc. where appropriate” | ||
• Create inclusive and comfortable environments (n = 10) | “Comfortable environments, ambient lighting, calming images, snacks, fidgets” | ||
• Integrated services for mental health, substance use, and life skills training in substance use treatment (n = 9) | “Build in vocational training programs that are flexible” | ||
• Co-create treatment plans with youth and update them frequently (n = 7) | “Goals based on youth and frequently updated as stage changes” | ||
• Increase harm reduction programs for youth (n = 7) | “Drug checking services” | ||
3. Continuous and cohesive care | 75 | • Maintain consistent service providers for youth throughout their journey (n = 43) | “Attach a consistent case manager or advocate to link services and follow-up” |
• Create smoother transitions between treatment types (n = 15) | “Treatment centres next door to detox centres” | ||
• Provide services based on developmental needs, not age (n = 10) | “Criteria for services based on need, not age (e.g., hierarchy of needs)” | ||
• Set up ‘one-stop shop’ for youth (n = 5) | “Multiple appointments ongoing in same space to work towards collective plan of action” | ||
• Clearer lines of collaboration and communication between supports (n = 2) | “Clear lines of communication between all parties of support, including service providers (emergency, social services, etc.), youth, and families” | ||
4. Service provider competency | 12 | • Training in active listening, non-judgment, cultural safety (n = 9) | “Service providers who hold space with someone” |
• Training in how to involve families (n = 1) | “Training for service providers in how to involve families in treatment plans” | ||
• First responder education in youth and opioid use (n = 1) | “Develop education around youth and opioid problems and unsafe for first responders” | ||
• Support for service providers (n = 1) | “Better pay and support for service providers” | ||
Main Need Theme: Wider-spread understanding of opioid use as a health issue | |||
1. Caregivers’ knowledge and tools | 107 | • Programs that connect parents with others with similar experiences (n = 45) | “Create a network of parents of youth using opioids to share information and resources with each other” |
• A handbook or guide of community resources (n = 26) | “Parent manual or courses on how to raise a teen with a substance use disorder” | ||
• Resources or courses that prepare parents and families for what to expect and next steps (n = 14) | “On first overdose, resources that tell me what the next steps are and what to expect” | ||
• Websites for parents with resources and information (n = 11) | “Website that has all of the services, their requirements and is updated often” | ||
• Wider- spread information and resources (n = 8) | “Distribute info through family doctors and youth clinics” | ||
• Teams that help caregivers with service navigation (n = 3) | “Parent navigator or advocate at each substance use service” | ||
2. School curriculum and policies | 44 | • Integrate mental health and substance use liaisons in each school (n = 16) | “Mental health professionals on-site or on-call at schools” |
• Peer-based mental health and substance use programs in schools for students and staff (n = 11) | “Develop peer-based substance use education programs in academic and school environments” | ||
• Increase mental health and substance use training for school professionals (n = 10) | “Empathy training for all adults in education system that is specific to mental health and substance use” | ||
• Integrate curriculum on mental health and substance use (n = 7) | “Bi-annual curriculum specific to mental health and substance use” | ||
43. Public acceptance | 5 | • Tackle stigma in the community (n = 3) | “Make it okay for people to say ‘I’m not okay’” |
• Public awareness campaigns (n = 2) | “Make a big campaign spreading information and spreading empathy” | ||