Addressing Gaps in the Opioid Use Disorder Care Continuum for Adolescents and Young Adults
Funded by the Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Fellowship (PI: Sarah J Miller), this project addresses the opioid crisis in young populations.
Adolescents and young adults with opioid use disorder access evidence-based care at lower rates than their adult counterparts, yet limited research has examined ways to improve services for this population. This project uses a mixed methods approach to identify predictors of and barriers to engagement with opioid use disorder care and to develop recommendations for improving care systems.
Aim 1:
Determine whether there are socio-demographic disparities (e.g., age, race, ethnicity, sex) in terms of the presence of OUD, OUD severity, and OUD treatment receipt in the US through quantitative analysis of a large national dataset.
Aim 2:
Identify individual, interpersonal, institutional and structural predictors of adolescent and young adult opioid treatment receipt through quantitative analysis of a large national dataset.
Aim 3:
Identify barriers and facilitators to engagement in OUD treatment across social ecological levels for adolescents and young adults in the southern US through qualitative analysis of individual interview and focus group data
Aim 4:
Integrate findings from Aims 1, 2, and 3 in order to develop recommendations for interventions to improve treatment access, engagement, and outcomes for adolescents and young adults who misuse opioids or with OUD in the southern US.