Date of Award
Spring 2016
Document Type
Capstone
Degree Name
Master of Public Health (MPH)
Department
Public Health
First Advisor
Mary Lindsey Smith
Keywords
barriers, access, opioid, detoxification, gender, women, Donabedien, Muskie School of Public Service
Abstract
The lack of treatment facilities and services for opioid use disorder in Maine, combined with an increased prevalence of addiction, creates a potential for health inequity between men and women that may be intensified by barriers in access to care. This capstone study utilized detoxification screening inquiry forms and data obtained from the Milestone Foundation’s acute opioid detoxification program to assess and categorize barriers to access by gender. A barriers model was developed based on existing literature and was to identify potential associations among and between the known barriers to accessing treatment. Barriers were described as internally or externally based, and categorized as pertaining to availability, affordability, accommodation, accessibility, and acceptability. Categories were compartmentalized in the barrier model by using a framework of structure, process, and outcome, which are Avedis Donabedien’s triad of healthcare quality. The results of the study demonstrate that the Milestone Foundation acute opioid detoxification program anticipates and mitigates many of the potential barriers to women, by counteracting deficiencies of specific components in the barrier model with strengths from other components in the category, or with linked components in an associated category. Barriers that prevent women from requesting treatment may still present a problem. Further revisions may be necessary as the prevalence of opioid use disorder in women continue.
Recommended Citation
Conley, Karen E., "An Analysis of Women’s Access to Acute Opioid Detoxification Services in Maine: Identifying the Barriers to Treatment" (2016). Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations. 122.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/muskie_capstones/122
Included in
Bioethics and Medical Ethics Commons, Chemical Actions and Uses Commons, Community Health Commons, Health and Medical Administration Commons, Health Policy Commons, Investigative Techniques Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, Other Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons, Substance Abuse and Addiction Commons, Therapeutics Commons, Women's Health Commons
