Barriers and facilitators to opioid agonist treatment (OAT) engagement among individuals released from federal incarceration into the community in Ontario, Canada

Figures & data

Table 1. Study sample release, drug use, and OAT information (n=35)

Characteristics	% (n)
Release conditions Abstain from substance use Avoid certain people (criminal associates, victims) Participate in treatment program/counselling Residency	100 (35) 100 (35) 80 (28) 34 (12)
Community urinalysis Positive for illicit substances+ Opioids	91 (32) 63 (20 of 32) 50 (10 of 20)
Medical marijuana prescription^α	23 (8)
OAT engagement^α Methadone Buprenorphine-naloxone	77 (27) 40 (11 of 27) 59 (16 of 27)
Suspension of release Substance use as a factor in suspension	69 (24) 88 (21 of 24)
Return to custody Substance use as a factor in return to custody	49 (17) 82 (14 of 17)

^{+Indicator is not mutually-exclusive; α Data derived from quantitative survey, and only indicative of past 30 days at time of assessment. The 3 participants without community urinalysis all self-reported illicit substance (with 2 including opioid) use. Of the 10 participants who tested positive for illicit substance (excluding opioid) use, 6 were OAT-engaged; of the 10 participants who tested positive for opioid use, 7 were OAT-engaged. Release suspensions are temporary interruption of release, typically for a breach of conditions; ‘return to custody’ is a revoked release. If an individual does not meet their community requirements or re-offends, their release can be suspended (i.e., a temporary interruption of their release, typically for a breach of conditions). The Parole Board of Canada (PBC) must then decide whether to cancel the suspension (i.e., return the individual to the community based on the circumstances of the suspension), or revoke the release (i.e., the individual returns to federal custody; for individuals on discretionary release [day or full parole], they will then have to re-apply for release; for those on statutory release, CSC reviews and recalculates when they will be re-released.}

Data availability statement

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to the inclusion of personal identifying information, for which participants did not provide consent to share.