Discriminatory Healthcare Experiences and Opioid Use Disorder: A Study of Mental Health Outcomes
When the opioid crisis re-introduced itself to the United States in 1975, individuals began advocating for change regarding treatment of various substance use disorders – something that the health care system was not prepared for or interested in. The creation of programs outside of the hospital setting in forms of detox centers, inpatient programs, and outpatient programs set the tone for discriminatory views and biases regarding SUD that have continued to be present for the past decades.
The purpose of this project is to examine mental health outcomes of discriminatory healthcare experiences and opioid use disorder through three different papers: the systematic literature review, the conceptual paper, and the practice application paper.
The systematic literature review presents an evidence-based analysis of the current knowledge regarding mental health outcomes of discriminatory healthcare experiences and opioid use disorder. It reviews literature related to the history of healthcare and opioid use disorder discrimination and various themes among past research findings and recommendations.
The conceptual paper identifies, explores, and analyzes relevant theories that can be used to address mental health outcomes of discriminatory healthcare experiences and opioid use disorder. It synthesizes knowledge, past change efforts, and presents new recommendations to fill gaps in research.
Lastly, the practice application paper uses synthesized knowledge and theories to solve this practice problem.