Understanding Impacts of COVID-19 on Substance Use Disorder and Treatment

In the midst of an ongoing nationwide opioid crisis, the global COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted people with substance use disorders – and particularly opioid use disorders. Social distancing requirements, shelter-in-place orders and the many unknowns about this coronavirus have created challenges for ensuring access to prevention and treatment services. “The COVID-19 pandemic created additional challenges for people with substance use disorders and those at risk of developing problems, but treatment providers, policymakers and researchers have been working to find new ways for people to get the help they need during this time,” said Hillary Samples, a faculty member of the Center for Health Services Research at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research and an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health. To read the full story.