Conceptualizing the COVID-19, Opioid Use, and Racism Syndemic and Its Associations With Traumatic Stress.

Denise Nguyen Hien, Alexandria G Bauer, Liza Franklin, Tanya Lalwani, Kierra Pean

Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) 2022 Mar 01

filter terms:

Individually, the COVID-19 pandemic and opioid epidemic have each been responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths. Systemic racism, including public perceptions about people who use opioids, inadequate substance abuse prevention and treatment efforts, heightened risks for COVID-19 exposure, and inadequate access to testing and health care, has contributed to the ongoing disparities underlying these health crises. Thus, the authors propose an integrative framework for conceptualizing the COVID-19, opioid use, and racism (COR) syndemic, with traumatic stress as a critical underpinning of this model. Action is needed to address trauma and the COR syndemic. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.

Citation

Denise Nguyen Hien, Alexandria G Bauer, Liza Franklin, Tanya Lalwani, Kierra Pean. Conceptualizing the COVID-19, Opioid Use, and Racism Syndemic and Its Associations With Traumatic Stress. Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.). 2022 Mar 01;73(3):353-356