Health Sciences Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Health Science

Copyright Statement

All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.

Department

College of Health Care Sciences – Health Science Department

First Advisor

Moya Alfonso

Date of original Performance / Presentation

January 2024

Publication Date / Copyright Date

1-1-2024

Abstract

Abstract The review of literature/results of previous studies provided credible evidence of an existing threat to public health due to the opioid epidemic, especially among persons who inject drugs (PWID). The findings of numerous studies showed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health care infrastructure, including crucial factors like access to care, health equity, health care providers, caregiver stress, and health care policy. Previous research findings demonstrated the need for and importance of the current study to investigate the relationship between opioid injection drug abuse and viral acute hepatitis C among PWID during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The dissertation study used phenomenological analysis and garnered “how” there was a relationship between the growing opioid injection drug abuse and the increase in acute viral hepatitis C onset among PWID since the COVID-19 pandemic. The investigator gathered the lived experiences of health care professionals and provided an in- depth analysis of community-level factors that led to increased drug dependence and exposure to viral hepatitis C since the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The practical applications of the dissertation study were merely suggestive given the small sample size; however, results do inform future injection drug use and hepatitis C virus treatment/management policy. Keywords: interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), opioid epidemic, persons who inject drugs (PWID), 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19 pandemic), corona virus (COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 virus), opioid injection drug abuse, injection drug use (IDU), opioid use disorder (OUD), viral acute hepatitis C (HCV), health care infrastructure, access to care, health equity, health care providers, caregiver stress, health care policy

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Keywords

2019 Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19 Pandemic); Caregiver Stress; Injection Drug Use (IDU); Opioid Injection Drug Abuse; Persons Who Inject Drugs (PWID); Viral Acute Hepatitis C (HCV)

Download
To access this thesis/dissertation you must have a valid nova.edu OR mynsu.nova.edu email address and create an account for NSUWorks.

Free My Thesis

If you are the author of this work and would like to grant permission to make it openly accessible to all, please click the Free My Thesis button.

  Contact Author

Share

 
COinS