The Pros And Cons Of Methadone Maintenance Recovery

The opioid crisis in the United States has become the headline of every newspaper across the country. According to the Center for Disease Control, seven thousand people are admitted to emergency services for misusing prescription opioids (Understanding the Epidemic, 2015). Additionally, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 435,000 people in the U.S. report being daily heroin users (Opioids, 2015). Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programs are long term recovery options used for people meeting criteria for opioid use disorder into treatment and living a recovery lifestyle. MMT programs are long term recovery options. However, some patients do not last in MMT programs and each has varied success rates.

In the initial introduction, the researchers outline the need for the study and the need for further study of MMT effectiveness and retention due to lack of studies and weak research (Proctor, 2015). The study took into account all the critical pieces that interact in MMT, specifically accountability via urine drug screens, counseling techniques via multicultural issues, and medical interventions via dose level and monitoring. By intertwining these three pieces in a study, the researchers got the integrated approach that leads to successes on methadone

The strengths of the study allowed for practical applications in the field. Findings related to doses, employment and marital status effecting retention give counselors the ability to coordinate care and implement appropriate strategies for treatment. The study had some limitations, specifically lack of diversity. This allows for counselors to work with ethnic minorities and give them additional supports when needed. The study failed to show what about the Hispanic culture or race led to low retention rates. Counselors in the MMT field could use the knowledge as a preemptive screen for Hispanic patients and allow for the therapist to develop appropriate relapse prevention. Discovering that having cocaine present in urine drug screens upon intake affects retention rates in MMT programs. Other studies have provided the effectiveness of MMT on cocaine users and, with the addition of this study, effective interventions and additional support can be applied by counselors to boost retention rates (Burch, 2015; Falcato, 2015). Though higher dose led to better retention, counselors usually do not have a say in dosing, aside from advocating for their clients to medical staff. Patients should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis as methadone is an addictive substance and medicine that interacts with people’s bodies