Not ashamed but still too poor - Longitudinal changes in barriers to treatment entry for online treatment seekers

Not ashamed but still too poor - Longitudinal changes in barriers to treatment entry for online treatment seekers.

Aims: To identify and recruit online treatment seekers and examine their treatment entry behavior and related barriers over a period of six months. 

Methods: Online treatment seekers were recruited through an online SUD treatment finder (www.allaboutaddiction.com/Rehab-Finder) after completing online screening, followed by eligibility determination and an online informed consent. Participants were then emailed links to online assessments, delivered via Survey Monkey, to be completed within 24 hours of initial screening and again at one-week, one-month, and six-months following initial screening.

Results: Forty participants were recruited, presenting broad variability in gender (Female = 60%), age (M = 32, SD = 8.6), and geography (10 States represented). Reported barriers to treatment entry at baseline replicated previous findings with stigma, shame, inability to share the problem, cost, and access all presenting as significant barriers. Follow up assessments supported substantial shifts in barriers with stigma and shame becoming less prominent while cost and access increased in magnitude. Some differences based on gender, actual treatment-entry and past treatment experience were found.

Conclusions: Treatment-seeking individuals report changes in the reasons for not entering treatment as they progress through the treatment-seeking process. While stigma and shame are substantial barriers at initial seeking they become less important. Research into the process through which some barriers become less obstructive, and the role that online treatment- and information-seeking play in this process, could help accelerate barriers removal and facilitate earlier SUD treatment entry.