Changing Hearts and/or Minds: Measuring and Influencing Viewpoints on MOUD

• In Event: Research on Jail Staff

Abstract

Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are an evidence-based practice for helping individuals with criminal legal system (CLS) involvement achieve and maintain sobriety (Baser et al., 2011). Availability of MOUD for people with CLS involvement and opioid use disorder (OUD) has grown in recent years, but many people are not offered the option, especially in incarcerative settings.

This study seeks to understand what influences the viewpoints of people working in the CLS about the use of MOUD and assess the degree to which the following can impact an individual’s views on MOUD: 1. corrective information (i.e., a series of facts about MOUD); 2. a narrative about the MOUD experience from the perspective of a justice-involved OUD patient; and a combination of 1 and 2.

Online survey participants answer a series of questions including the Opinions about Medication Assisted Treatment (OAMAT). Participants are randomized to view no message, the corrective information message, the narrative message, or both messages. Respondents then answer questions about the reading and the repeated OAMAT scale. In this paper we will discuss development of the messages and the initial findings, as well as the challenges of conducting an online survey in the age of Artificial Intelligence.

Author

• Amy Murphy, George Mason University