Understanding the experiences of health care professionals who treat opioid addicted patients with chronic pain

Opioid addiction is a serious concern for healthcare professionals who work with patients that experience chronic pain. Although research has shown that long term opioid usage can result in dependency or addiction, the number of prescriptions written for opioid analgesics has continued to increase over the last 10 years. Although opioid addiction has been studied extensively by researchers in multiple disciplines; there is a gap in the literature that does not discuss how behavioral changes associated with opioid addiction can be successfully monitored and treated among psychology healthcare professionals. The experiences of healthcare professionals who work with opioid addicted patients with chronic pain were explored in this multiple case study. The study used the principles outlined in the Yin model of case study research to collect and analyze data obtained from archival records, documents, and semi-structured open ended interviews with six healthcare professionals within the field of psychology. Data collected during the study resulted in the development of six key themes: the clinical interview is one of the most valuable assessment tools for healthcare professionals; multiple therapeutic approaches are useful when treating opioid addicted patients with chronic pain; chronic pain patients can experience emotional distress at the onset of opioid addition; neurological changes in the brain affect patients behavior and their interactions with their healthcare professional; both learning and memory reinforce conditioning for opioid addicted patients with chronic pain; and finally, healthcare professionals are instrumental in educating patients about opioid addiction.