Since unemployment is common among individuals who use substances, employment status is seen as a marker of stability among people in recovery.th.
Since unemployment is common among individuals who use substances, employment status is seen as a marker of stability among people in recovery.th.
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For individuals with an opiate use disorder on medication assisted treatments (MAT), rejoining the workforce or maintaining current employment represents a return to normal social functioning and is seen as an important goal to work towards.
Nilsson and colleagues used data from the national Swedish Social Services register to examine the association between various factors and working while on medication assisted treatments (MAT)(prescribed by a physician) for a year or more. The data was collected between 2002 and 2008 and includes information on 2638 people residing in Sweden who used heroin or other opiates for three or more days per week for at least one year. A comparison of this dataset to Swedish Census data showed that the data is mainly representative of the Swedish population with slight over-representation of urban populations.
Using the Andersen model of health service utilization as a theoretical framework, the authors grouped participant factors into the following categories: predisposing factors (demographic and individual characteristics, e.g. age and gender), enabling factors (social resources that facilitate or impede the likelihood of a patient using health care services, e.g. work history and housing status), and need factors (characteristics influencing a patient’s perception of need for care, e.g. treatment history and criminal activity).
Over 70% of participants were male, and the average age was 34 years. Ten percent of participants reported currently working. The average number of years worked was 1.9. Regarding work history over the past three years, 40% were unemployed, 27% worked full time, and 9% worked part time. The average number of years taking prescribed methadone and buprenorphine was 2.5 and 1.7, respectively. About 6% reported working for more than a year while on MAT.
In the bivariate analysis of the predisposing factors, males, people with more years of education, and people with children were more likely to be working while on MAT compared to those who were not working or were not on MAT. No enabling factors were significantly associated with the outcome.
The authors then used logistic regression to examine the association between the outcome and the significant variables from the bivariate analysis.
Two of the more interesting findings from this study are that patients with children and patients prescribed psychiatric medication had the greatest likelihoods of working while on MAT. Those who take psychiatric medications may be generally more willing to take medication for behavioral or emotional difficulties, and thus are accepting of medication-based treatments for opioid use disorder. Children, and their need for a supportive, stable environment, may act as a motivator for parents to comply with MAT treatment regimens and to return to the workforce.
To draw firmer conclusions on the social and economic benefit of maintenance treatment, future longitudinal research should focus on studying if maintenance therapy helps people with opiate use disorders return to and stay in the workforce.
Blom, N. M., Chassler, D., & Lundgren, L. M. (2014). Factors associated with work and taking prescribed methadone or buprenorphine among Swedish opiate addicts. Evaluation and program planning.
l
For individuals with an opiate use disorder on medication assisted treatments (MAT), rejoining the workforce or maintaining current employment represents a return to normal social functioning and is seen as an important goal to work towards.
Nilsson and colleagues used data from the national Swedish Social Services register to examine the association between various factors and working while on medication assisted treatments (MAT)(prescribed by a physician) for a year or more. The data was collected between 2002 and 2008 and includes information on 2638 people residing in Sweden who used heroin or other opiates for three or more days per week for at least one year. A comparison of this dataset to Swedish Census data showed that the data is mainly representative of the Swedish population with slight over-representation of urban populations.
Using the Andersen model of health service utilization as a theoretical framework, the authors grouped participant factors into the following categories: predisposing factors (demographic and individual characteristics, e.g. age and gender), enabling factors (social resources that facilitate or impede the likelihood of a patient using health care services, e.g. work history and housing status), and need factors (characteristics influencing a patient’s perception of need for care, e.g. treatment history and criminal activity).
Over 70% of participants were male, and the average age was 34 years. Ten percent of participants reported currently working. The average number of years worked was 1.9. Regarding work history over the past three years, 40% were unemployed, 27% worked full time, and 9% worked part time. The average number of years taking prescribed methadone and buprenorphine was 2.5 and 1.7, respectively. About 6% reported working for more than a year while on MAT.
In the bivariate analysis of the predisposing factors, males, people with more years of education, and people with children were more likely to be working while on MAT compared to those who were not working or were not on MAT. No enabling factors were significantly associated with the outcome.
The authors then used logistic regression to examine the association between the outcome and the significant variables from the bivariate analysis.
Two of the more interesting findings from this study are that patients with children and patients prescribed psychiatric medication had the greatest likelihoods of working while on MAT. Those who take psychiatric medications may be generally more willing to take medication for behavioral or emotional difficulties, and thus are accepting of medication-based treatments for opioid use disorder. Children, and their need for a supportive, stable environment, may act as a motivator for parents to comply with MAT treatment regimens and to return to the workforce.
To draw firmer conclusions on the social and economic benefit of maintenance treatment, future longitudinal research should focus on studying if maintenance therapy helps people with opiate use disorders return to and stay in the workforce.
Blom, N. M., Chassler, D., & Lundgren, L. M. (2014). Factors associated with work and taking prescribed methadone or buprenorphine among Swedish opiate addicts. Evaluation and program planning.
l
For individuals with an opiate use disorder on medication assisted treatments (MAT), rejoining the workforce or maintaining current employment represents a return to normal social functioning and is seen as an important goal to work towards.
Nilsson and colleagues used data from the national Swedish Social Services register to examine the association between various factors and working while on medication assisted treatments (MAT)(prescribed by a physician) for a year or more. The data was collected between 2002 and 2008 and includes information on 2638 people residing in Sweden who used heroin or other opiates for three or more days per week for at least one year. A comparison of this dataset to Swedish Census data showed that the data is mainly representative of the Swedish population with slight over-representation of urban populations.
Using the Andersen model of health service utilization as a theoretical framework, the authors grouped participant factors into the following categories: predisposing factors (demographic and individual characteristics, e.g. age and gender), enabling factors (social resources that facilitate or impede the likelihood of a patient using health care services, e.g. work history and housing status), and need factors (characteristics influencing a patient’s perception of need for care, e.g. treatment history and criminal activity).
Over 70% of participants were male, and the average age was 34 years. Ten percent of participants reported currently working. The average number of years worked was 1.9. Regarding work history over the past three years, 40% were unemployed, 27% worked full time, and 9% worked part time. The average number of years taking prescribed methadone and buprenorphine was 2.5 and 1.7, respectively. About 6% reported working for more than a year while on MAT.
In the bivariate analysis of the predisposing factors, males, people with more years of education, and people with children were more likely to be working while on MAT compared to those who were not working or were not on MAT. No enabling factors were significantly associated with the outcome.
The authors then used logistic regression to examine the association between the outcome and the significant variables from the bivariate analysis.
Two of the more interesting findings from this study are that patients with children and patients prescribed psychiatric medication had the greatest likelihoods of working while on MAT. Those who take psychiatric medications may be generally more willing to take medication for behavioral or emotional difficulties, and thus are accepting of medication-based treatments for opioid use disorder. Children, and their need for a supportive, stable environment, may act as a motivator for parents to comply with MAT treatment regimens and to return to the workforce.
To draw firmer conclusions on the social and economic benefit of maintenance treatment, future longitudinal research should focus on studying if maintenance therapy helps people with opiate use disorders return to and stay in the workforce.
Blom, N. M., Chassler, D., & Lundgren, L. M. (2014). Factors associated with work and taking prescribed methadone or buprenorphine among Swedish opiate addicts. Evaluation and program planning.
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