Interprofessional-Shared Decision Making for Pregnant Women with Opioid Use: Results from a Provider Training

The purpose of the article is to describe an educational intervention for health professionals based on an interprofessional-shared decision making (IP-SDM) model in the women’s prenatal and early postpartum care and to observe whether after the intervention there was an improvement of certain outcomes such as: acquisition of substance use disorder knowledge, stigma reduction, and referrals to an evidenced-based program. Background: Providers might be unaware of this population’s unique issues, such as how women make decisions about recovery, their accessibility to substance use treatment, state child welfare laws regarding prenatal substance use, and information about neonates exposed to substances. Objectives: A training was developed to address perinatal providers' knowledge gaps and reduce stigma. Specific training elements included promoting universal verbal screening, information about treatment during pregnancy, and how to make recovery-related decisions utilizing an IP-SDM model. Methods: This mixed-methods study was conducted with 45 perinatal providers from community health centers across Southern New England. Providers attended a one-hour training and completed pre and posttraining online surveys. Results: The majority of participants who completed the online surveys have worked in obstetrical medicine for more than a decade. The findings demonstrated that providers who participated in this training increased their knowledge of child welfare laws pertaining to prenatal substance use as well as what community resources might be available to this population of women. The increased knowledge was verified through increased referrals to an evidence-based program, Healthy Families America. Moreover, stigma was reduced from pre to posttraining regarding women with substance use disorders. Conclusion: Our results suggest the importance of specified training to address the unique needs of this patient population.