Conceptualizing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with opioid use disorder: an application of the social ecological model

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unparalleled societal disruption with wide ranging effects on individual liberties, the economy, and physical and mental health. While no social strata or population has been spared, the pandemic has posed unique and poorly characterized challenges for...

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Main Authors: Ethan Cowan, Maria R. Khan, Siri Shastry, E. Jennifer Edelman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2021-01-01
Series:Addiction Science & Clinical Practice
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13722-020-00210-w
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spelling doaj-428b7981aa3a47999b6c47285f3282e02021-01-10T12:15:33ZengBMCAddiction Science & Clinical Practice1940-06402021-01-011611610.1186/s13722-020-00210-wConceptualizing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with opioid use disorder: an application of the social ecological modelEthan Cowan0Maria R. Khan1Siri Shastry2E. Jennifer Edelman3Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine At Mount SinaiDepartment of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of MedicineDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine At Mount SinaiDepartment of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, ES Harkness Memorial HallAbstract The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unparalleled societal disruption with wide ranging effects on individual liberties, the economy, and physical and mental health. While no social strata or population has been spared, the pandemic has posed unique and poorly characterized challenges for individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). Given the pandemic’s broad effects, it is helpful to organize the risks posed to specific populations using theoretical models. These models can guide scientific inquiry, interventions, and public policy. Models also provide a visual image of the interplay of individual-, network-, community-, structural-, and pandemic-level factors that can lead to increased risks of infection and associated morbidity and mortality for individuals and populations. Such models are not unidirectional, in that actions of individuals, networks, communities and structural changes can also affect overall disease incidence and prevalence. In this commentary, we describe how the social ecological model (SEM) may be applied to describe the theoretical effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). This model can provide a necessary framework to systematically guide time-sensitive research and implementation of individual-, community-, and policy-level interventions to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with OUD.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13722-020-00210-wPeople who use drugsSocial ecological modelCoronavirus (COVID-19) pandemicCOVID-19
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Ethan Cowan
Maria R. Khan
Siri Shastry
E. Jennifer Edelman
spellingShingle Ethan Cowan
Maria R. Khan
Siri Shastry
E. Jennifer Edelman
Conceptualizing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with opioid use disorder: an application of the social ecological model
Addiction Science & Clinical Practice
People who use drugs
Social ecological model
Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
COVID-19
author_facet Ethan Cowan
Maria R. Khan
Siri Shastry
E. Jennifer Edelman
author_sort Ethan Cowan
title Conceptualizing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with opioid use disorder: an application of the social ecological model
title_short Conceptualizing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with opioid use disorder: an application of the social ecological model
title_full Conceptualizing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with opioid use disorder: an application of the social ecological model
title_fullStr Conceptualizing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with opioid use disorder: an application of the social ecological model
title_full_unstemmed Conceptualizing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with opioid use disorder: an application of the social ecological model
title_sort conceptualizing the effects of the covid-19 pandemic on people with opioid use disorder: an application of the social ecological model
publisher BMC
series Addiction Science & Clinical Practice
issn 1940-0640
publishDate 2021-01-01
description Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unparalleled societal disruption with wide ranging effects on individual liberties, the economy, and physical and mental health. While no social strata or population has been spared, the pandemic has posed unique and poorly characterized challenges for individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). Given the pandemic’s broad effects, it is helpful to organize the risks posed to specific populations using theoretical models. These models can guide scientific inquiry, interventions, and public policy. Models also provide a visual image of the interplay of individual-, network-, community-, structural-, and pandemic-level factors that can lead to increased risks of infection and associated morbidity and mortality for individuals and populations. Such models are not unidirectional, in that actions of individuals, networks, communities and structural changes can also affect overall disease incidence and prevalence. In this commentary, we describe how the social ecological model (SEM) may be applied to describe the theoretical effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). This model can provide a necessary framework to systematically guide time-sensitive research and implementation of individual-, community-, and policy-level interventions to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with OUD.
topic People who use drugs
Social ecological model
Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
COVID-19
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13722-020-00210-w
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