Facilitating Drug Avoidance and Therapeutic Adherence in Substance use Disorders: A Focus Group Analysis of Psychiatric Nurses’ Perspectives

Introduction: The authors conducted a qualitative, thematic analysis of focus group data to review the practicing psychiatric nurses’ opinion on their role as facilitators in delivering drug avoidance and therapeutic adherence instructional modules to maintain sobriety, improve motivation to treatment participation and quality of life among persons diagnosed with substance use disorders. Methods: Four focus group sessions were conducted at a large psychosocial rehabilitation center among practicing psychiatric nurses. Each focus group comprised four to nine nurses who were having working experience in the de-addiction unit for a minimum period of 6 months. Their responses related to the opinions, ideas, perceptions, and concerns regarding the content, layout, and design of the instructional module on drug avoidance and therapeutic adherence strategies were recorded and transcribed. Results: A total of 22 psychiatric nurses participated in the focus group session. The themes identified from the transcribed responses were organized into two topics: (a) The strategies of drug avoidance and therapeutic adherence that the nurses perceived useful to the persons with SUDs and (b) the Design and layout of the instructional material and its delivery. Twelve subthemes were derived under these topics by analyzing FGD data. Discussion: This study was exploratory in nature and identified areas that can be utilized for further qualitative inquiry on drug avoidance and therapeutic adherence strategies and their effective delivery.