Practice Changes 6 Months Following a Physical Therapist Training Program Regarding Opioid Use and Misuse Screening and Assessment: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background:

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that all healthcare providers be trained to screen for misuse and/or opioid use disorder. An opioid misuse training program for physical therapists was developed and implemented. The purposes of this research were to (1) understand whether the participants found the training useful, (2) understand if they instituted practice changes that resulted from the training, and (3) understand barriers to implementing the skills learned in the training.

Methods:

Four separate 30-minute virtual training sessions were provided (1 session every 2 weeks). The topics included an introduction to the opioid crisis, screening, assessing, and communicating with patients and with the healthcare team about opioid misuse. A final training manual was distributed after the final training session at which time participants were asked to implement what they learned in the training. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with all training program participants (n = 13) approximately 6 months after the final training session. Rapid content analysis was used to understand the perceptions of and barriers to implementing what the physical therapists learned in the training.

Results:

Generally, the participants found the training important and useful and strengthened their perceptions of physical therapists’ role in screening for opioid misuse. Compared to the opioid misuse-related content of the training, most found it easier to implement general opioid-related content such as asking whether their patients were taking an opioid. Few participants screened any of their patients for opioid misuse. Barriers to implementation included concerns about how the patient might respond to being asked about their opioid use.

Conclusion:

These findings provide insight into physical therapists’ perceptions of an opioid misuse training program and the challenges with implementing what they learned in the program. Future training could incorporate activities such as role-playing to improve participants’ comfort with screening for opioid misuse.