Danny Lee*, Gloria Sanchez, Bernadette Pendergraph, Leah Miller-Lloyd, Jonathan Diaz, Shona Lamb and Shawkut Ali
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, USA
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Neurol Disord
Introduction: Addiction is a chronic, relapsing, treatable disease. People who use drugs have increased morbidity and mortality but are less likely to access healthcare. Stigma is one of the most significant barriers to healthcare for people who use drugs. By identifying and reducing stigma and misperceptions held by clinic staff, we can help patients feel more comfortable accessing the healthcare system and motivating for positive health behavior change. Methods: Drugs and Drug Problems Perception Questionnaire (DDPPQ) is a validated survey tool used to evaluate confidence and attitude of staff regarding providing care for people who use drugs. We plan to administer this survey to all clinic staff to assess areas of improvement in care for patients who use drugs. The survey will be administered to staff at every level. Based on the results, a targeted education initiative will be created based on identified needs and disseminated to staff. A post-initiative DDPPQ survey will be readministered to staff to evaluate for change. Results: The study is still pending IRB approval. However, once approved, we intend to administer to all Family Medicine Clinic staff. While we have not yet collected results for this study, based on a literature review and previous clinical studies, we anticipate a need for education and training for clinic staff regarding treatment approaches for patients who use drugs including motivational interviewing and medication management. After the educational initiative is completed, we anticipate that participants will acknowledge Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) as a treatable medication condition and develop greater confidence when working with patients with SUDs. Discussion: The DDPPQ survey will increase our understanding of stigma toward people who use drugs. Developing initiatives that target stigma-reduction will improve patient experiences and health outcomes. Future projects will build on this study to create training programs to improve quality of patient care for those who use drugs. We intend to expand the scope of the project to include all of Los Angeles County Department of Health Services depending on the success of our training program.
Neurological Disorders received 1343 citations as per Google Scholar report
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