Facebook as a Strategy To Deliver a Peer Navigation Intervention for Recently Incarcerated Women with Opioid Use...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Addiction Medicine
• Digital Health

Background:

• Transitions from incarceration to community present challenges for accessing recovery support and treatment, particularly for individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD).
• Hard-to-reach populations require innovative strategies for effective engagement and service delivery.
• Peer navigators (PNs) offer valuable support, but traditional methods may not reach all individuals post-release.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the utilization and content of Facebook Messenger communications between PNs and women with OUD after jail release.
• To explore how women with OUD engage with PN services delivered remotely via social media.
• To assess the feasibility of using Facebook for recovery support and treatment linkages in this population.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative coding and quantitative analysis of Facebook Messenger transcripts from a clinical trial (Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network - JCOIN).
• Peer navigators provided 12 weeks of OUD treatment navigation and recovery support post-release using remote options, including Facebook.
• Data included message content, conversation topics, number of messages, and resource referrals provided.

Main Results:

• Over half (53.7%) of women contacted via Facebook Messenger interacted with their PN.
• Approximately one-third (31.6%) of interacting participants received resource referrals (average 2.9 resources).
• Most conversations focused on needs/struggles (70.7%) and successes (24.2%), frequently discussing family, finances, and housing.

Conclusions:

• Facebook Messenger is a viable strategy for engaging women with OUD post-incarceration and delivering remote recovery support.
• Peer recovery support via social media can bridge gaps in accessing treatment and resources, especially in underserved or rural areas.
• PNs utilized similar supportive strategies on Facebook as in other modalities, including sharing lived experience and offering encouragement.