Priyanka Vakkalanka, PhD
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Epidemiology
University of Iowa College of Public Health
Compared to the general US population, Veterans are at a higher risk for substance disorders such as opioid use disorders (OUD) due to risk factors such as post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, sleep issues, and use of other substances including alcohol or sedatives. Pharmacotherapy with buprenorphine serve as an effective treatment option with psychological therapies when indicated. The key challenge, however, is ensuring appropriate access to care and delivery of these approaches to US Veterans. Veterans more often live in rural areas where the burden of the opioid epidemic has significantly escalated over the last 20 years. Additionally, access to treatment is a challenge in rural areas, which suggests a significant proportion of Veterans may not be receiving timely care. Telehealth services have expanded considerably in recent years for mental health care and have been recently adopted for OUD management. The objective of this presentation is to describe the role of treatment retention on suicide- and overdose-related deaths, and the impact of telehealth in treatment retention for those receiving pharmacotherapy for OUD.
This seminar is a part of the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy first term seminar series “How the Injury Control Research Centers are responding to the Opioid Epidemic: Reports from the Front Lines of a Public Health Crisis”.
