Methadone is a first-line treatment for opioid use disorder and its use is associated with reduced morbidity, mortality, blood-born viral infections and social harms. Despite these benefits, methadone remains a poorly understood and stigmatized medication. Comprehensive primary care that includes integrated opioid agonist therapy results in improved preventative health screening and higher client satisfaction.
In an escalating overdose crisis, efforts to help family physicians feel comfortable providing comprehensive care to patients prescribed methadone are urgently needed. This interactive virtual workshop will include case presentations and facilitated participant discussion.
On November 14, 2023, EENet hosted a webinar with the CAMH Opioid Internal Network (COIN) Community of Interest.
In this webinar, you will learn:
- The evidence supporting methadone treatment for opioid use disorder
- Important drug-drug interactions, acute pain management for people receiving methadone, common side effects and implications of missed doses or treatment interruptions
- Harm reduction strategies for people who use opioids, and
- Communication pearls for collaboration among pharmacists, family physicians and specialist colleagues.
Originally live streamed: Tuesday, November 14, 2023.
Download the webinar slides and watch the recording.
Who is this workshop for?
This webinar will be of interest to primary care providers who provide care to patients prescribed methadone, including the following:
- General practitioners
- Family physicians
- Nurse practitioners
Learning objectives
- Reflect on our own biases and health system biases as they relate to caring for persons who use substances.
- Build capacity to provide safe, meaningful, and comprehensive primary care to persons on methadone.
- Develop an approach to considering drug-drug interactions, acute pain management and common side effects of methadone.
- Identify opportunities to implement shared care, collaborative care, or transition of care for stable methadone clients to primary care.
Presenters
Nikki Bozinoff is a physician in the Concurrent Outpatient Medical and Psychosocial Addiction Support Service at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, associate scientist in the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Division Head for Mental Health and Addictions, and assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.
Emily Kendell is a physician in the Addiction Medicine Service at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and a lecturer in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.
Andrew McLeod is a social service worker and an addictions counsellor as well as a person with lived experience who accessed methadone and opioid agonist therapy for nearly two decades. Andrew works as a community consultant for META:PHI, an Ontario initiative to support healthcare providers in treating people struggling with substance use disorders. He works as an addictions counsellor for Alpha House Recovery Community and Renascent.
Katie Dorman is a primary care physician within the St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team, a staff physician within the department’s Addiction Medicine Program, and an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.
About the webinar host
This webinar was presented by the CAMH Opioid Internal Network (COIN) Community of Interest, which is supported by the Evidence Exchange Network (EENet). The CAMH Opioid Internal Network aims to encourage alignment and collaboration in CAMH’s opioid-related research and public health work across project areas, including clinical, research, education, advocacy, knowledge exchange, policy and quality improvement. It also seeks to improve mentorship for students investigating opioids, enhance knowledge exchange around opioids with the larger CAMH community, and increase evidence-based advocacy for opioid policy and treatment reform.