Evidence Brief: Barriers and Facilitators to Use of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder by Katherine Mackey, Stephanie Veazie, Johanna Anderson, Donald Bourne, and Kim Peterson The ESP Coordinating Center (ESP CC) is responding to a request from VA’s Health Services Research and Development Service (HSR&D) for an evidence brief on barriers to and facilitators of use of buprenorphine and extended-release naltrexone for treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). This review synthesizes evidence on the barriers and facilitators at the patient, provider, and health care system levels. Findings from this review will be used to inform prioritization of questions for a September 2019 State-of-the-Art (SOTA) conference.

Treating Opioid Addiction by John F. Kelly, Sarah E. Wakeman (Editors) This book addresses opioids and opioid use disorders from epidemiological, clinical, and public health perspectives. It covers detailed information on the nature of opioids, their effects on the human body and brain, prevention, and treatment of opioid addiction. Unlike other texts, the first section of this volume builds a strong historical, neurobiological, and phenomenological foundation for a deep understanding of the topic and the patient. The second section addresses the most challenging issues clinicians face, including pharmacological and psychosocial treatments, harm reduction approaches, alternative approaches to pain management for the non-specialist, and prescribing guidelines. Treating Opioid Addiction is a valuable resource for psychiatrists, psychologists, addiction medicine physicians, primary care physicians, drug addiction counselors, students, trainees, scholars, and public health officials interested in the effects and impact of opioids in the clinical and epidemiological context.

Treating Comorbid Opioid Use Disorder in Chronic Pain by Annette M. Matthews (Editor); Jonathan C. Fellers (Editor) This in-depth text addresses how to approach and treat the chronic pain patient struggling with problematic opioid use. It discusses the approach for patients who may be at high risk of problematic use, such as those with a history of mental illness or substance use disorder. The first part covers diagnosis and treatment, focusing on common best practices that practitioners can adapt to any practice. Two of the chapters detail alternative and replacement therapies for opioid. Two more cover special issues in the treatment of women and older patients. The second part reviews the ethical, legal, regulatory, and policy issues surrounding the treatment of patients with comorbid pain and addiction. The book includes strategies for documentation that mitigate the risk of legal issues or ethical boundary crossings. The last part of the book addresses treating comorbid pain and opioid use disorder in different medical settings and the treatment of co-occurring mental illnesses and substance abuse. Treating Comorbid Opioid Use Disorder in Chronic Pain is of great value to psychiatrists, pain physicians, primary care providers, social workers, drug rehabilitation centers, and other behavioral health professionals.