{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]],"date-time":"2026-03-25T06:55:01Z","timestamp":1774421701970,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,23]],"date-time":"2026-03-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774224000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000026","name":"National Institute on Drug Abuse","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["K01DA055820"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["K01DA055820"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000026","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100006545","name":"National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["U54MD012393"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["U54MD012393"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100006545","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study seeks to inform emergency preparedness efforts by summarizing the pandemic\u2019s impacts on access to opioid use disorder (OUD) recovery support as reported by women in recovery. In-depth interviews were completed with adult women in recovery from OUD. We used a primarily deductive approach to coding and analysis. Two coders analyzed transcripts; discrepancies were resolved through discussion. Seventeen women completed interviews from June to October 2020. Pandemic impacts primarily focused on engagement in care and retention at community and interpersonal levels. Community-level barriers to engagement included facilities\u2019 halting intake of patients and fear of COVID-19 infection in treatment settings. Interpersonal barriers to engagement included loss of childcare support and the sudden transition to virtual services. Community-level retention barriers included perception of facility staff\u2019s lack of adherence to infection prevention protocols and strict enforcement of infection prevention protocols on residents within facilities. Interpersonal barriers to retention included reduced availability of mutual aid meetings. Participants also highlighted how the pandemic worsened the addiction crisis and increased women\u2019s caretaking burden. Leaders and administrators must be prepared to simultaneously balance responses for two public health crises: a novel infectious disease and addiction. Lessons learned from the pandemic can mitigate barriers to care and recovery when future emergencies arise.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph23030409","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,23]],"date-time":"2026-03-23T16:40:20Z","timestamp":1774284020000},"page":"409","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Barriers to Recovery from Opioid Use Disorder Reported by Women During 2020: Insights for the Next Public Health Emergency"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9296-981X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Melissa K.","family":"Ward","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, 11200 S.W. 8th Street, AHC5-490, Miami, FL 33199, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-9373-9504","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ayesha","family":"Jafry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, 11200 S.W. 8th Street, AHC5-490, Miami, FL 33199, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sarah","family":"Coleman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social Work, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, 11200 S.W. 8th Street, AHC5-536, Miami, FL 33199, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sofia B.","family":"Fernandez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social Work, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, 11200 S.W. 8th Street, AHC5-536, Miami, FL 33199, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2110-3530","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tendai","family":"Gwanzura","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, 11200 S.W. 8th Street, AHC5-490, Miami, FL 33199, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9222-085X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eric F.","family":"Wagner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social Work, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, 11200 S.W. 8th Street, AHC5-536, Miami, FL 33199, USA"},{"name":"Community-Based Research Institute, Florida International University, 11200 S.W. 8th Street, AHC5-536, Miami, FL 33199, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e223418","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2022.3418","article-title":"Forecasted and Observed Drug Overdose Deaths in the US During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020","volume":"5","author":"Cartus","year":"2022","journal-title":"JAMA Network Open"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1284","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.2021.306256","article-title":"COVID-19 and the Drug Overdose Crisis: Uncovering the Deadliest Months in the United States, January\u2013July 2020","volume":"111","author":"Friedman","year":"2021","journal-title":"Am. 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