Feasibility and acceptability of the delivery of a group telehealth intervention for support persons of patients receiving buprenorphine for opioid use disorder

Background: Opioid-related overdoses increased substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic, eliciting an urgent demand for accessible treatment for individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) and those who support them (support persons). Support persons can improve treatment initiation and retention in their individuals with OUD. Additionally, support persons may have their own mental health needs related to their loved one's OUD. Unfortunately, few treatment options exist for support persons of individuals with an OUD. A support personfocused group telehealth intervention (referred to as eINSPIRE) that is accessible and feasible could help fill the treatment gap for support persons and bolster outcomes for individuals with OUD. Methods: The study interviewed patients receiving buprenorphine (n = 9), their support persons (n = 12), and clinic staff members (n = 6) about their perceptions on a group telehealth intervention designed for support persons. Patient and support person dyads were recruited from two community health clinics to participate in a qualitative interview and/or focus group. Using classic content analysis, we then analyzed this data to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and usability of a group telehealth intervention for support persons. Results: The eINSPIRE intervention was deemed generally acceptable, feasible, and usable. All support persons (n = 12) agreed that group telehealth was acceptable and those who completed an eINSPIRE demo session found it usable (IUS = 72.5). Patients indicated that eINSPIRE would be beneficial for support persons, and could provide services that are unattainable to them in their immediate community, but that groups sometimes lacked intimacy. Participants also found group telehealth to be more accessible than in-person alternatives and suggested how to improve the delivery of the intervention. Conclusions: Group telehealth may be a feasible and acceptable option for delivering an intervention to support persons and could reduce barriers to treatment that this population often experiences due to competing demands. However, due to sample size limitations, more participant perspectives and future research are needed.