Zeitschrift für Allgemeinmedizin

General Practitioners and Drug & Alcohol Specialists Experiences with the Barriers

Abstract

Judit Simon*

Introduction: Substance use disorders (SUDs) have an impact on physicians' health and quality of life, as well as possibly on the care they provide. Despite the existence of efficient particular Physician Health Programs (PHPs), physicians with SUD frequently encounter obstacles when attempting to get professional assistance. Therefore, using a multi-perspective approach, we looked at the facilitators and barriers to physicians getting care for SUD. Methods: For two sub studies, a qualitative design was chosen. First, responses to two open-ended questionnaire items (regarding predicted barriers and facilitators) were examined. 1,685 general practitioners responded to this survey (47% response rate). These open-ended questions responses were inductively coded. Second, 21 semi-structured interviews with physician SUD patients, their partners, and PHP staff members were conducted (regarding experienced barriers and facilitators).