The Patient Perspective of an Inpatient Addiction Medicine Unit Implemented in an Urban Northern Acute Care Hospital in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Background: An Addiction Medicine Unit (AMU) represents a promising approach to enhancing hospital care for individuals who use substances, but there is limited research to understand patients’ perspectives on AMUs. Therefore, the study objectives involved exploring patients’ experiences with the AMU. Methods: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 patients to gather their perspectives about the AMU. The AMU offers specialized inpatient addiction support, integrating medical and psychosocial interventions while facilitating connections to community supports to stabilize patients and manage addiction-related issues using a harm reduction philosophy. Results: Factors identified by patients that lead to positive experiences with the AMU included: efficient access to high-quality acute medical care, specialized addiction care, and additional support for non-medical needs. Patients emphasized the benefits of having peer support workers on staff, the overall positive interactions with staff, and how different these experiences were from their hospital admissions outside of the AMU. Factors identified by patients that should be considered in an AMU included: the ease of access to substances, negative interactions with other patients, and self-stigma/internalized discrimination. Also, the patient perspective reflected varied views on harm reduction. Patients’ perception of the impact of an AMU overall reflected that the AMU is an effective way to deliver comprehensive treatment, to address the needs of PWUS, both medical and substance-use-related issues. They identified that the unit’s intentional harm reduction philosophy facilitated access to care and positive patient-staff interactions, emphasizing the unit’s progress in reducing fear and judgment and rebuilding trust in the healthcare system. Conclusion: The introduction of a new AMU in a Northern urban acute care hospital in Ontario has yielded positive patient experiences. The AMU model shows potential to re-establish trust between patients and providers, but ongoing efforts are needed to address underlying stigma to be more effective.