Supporting Care for Women with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)

We create tools for you, as health care providers and leaders, to help women with OUD. These tools can help you care for them. Patient-centered care recognizes and respects each patient's values and goals.

What did you create to address OUD?

Caring for Women with Opioid Use Disorder: A Toolkit for Organization Leaders and Providers (PDF - 5 MB) (OUD Toolkit). We developed this with Health and Human Services (HHS)'s Office on Women's Health.

What is in the OUD Toolkit?

The toolkit focuses on three areas:

1. Shift the culture around addiction and treatment
2. Engage women with OUD in care
3. Create and maintain partnerships to improve care coordination

We included a self-assessment in the OUD Toolkit. You can see how well you are doing right now and where you could improve.

How did you create the toolkit?

1. We reviewed the most recent research.
2. We met with experts from across the country including:
   1. Health care providers who treat OUD
   2. Researchers
   3. Community leaders
3. Our meetings helped us learn important information and themes. We summarized them in the Patient and Family-Centered Treatment and Care Coordination Model for Women Served by HRSA Programs (PDF - 426 KB). We used this model, plus more expert feedback, to create the toolkit.

What is OUD?

OUD is a type of substance use disorder. In OUD, a problematic pattern of opioid use causes distress or impairment. This can be prescription or illegal opioids. OUD can result in serious health problems or death. OUD is a chronic, treatable medical disease. For additional information, visit the CDC OUD webpage for providers.

How does OUD impact women?

Women with OUD:

• Have care needs that require a range of services
• May experience intimate partner violence and other forms of trauma
• Are more likely to have an unintended pregnancy
• Can have a hard time getting treatment if they have children

Review HHS' Final Report: Opioid Use, Misuse, and Overdose in Women (PDF - 1 MB).

What is the treatment for OUD?

Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) should be the first choice of treatment. Treatment may include counseling, as well. Withdrawal management alone is not as effective as MOUD with coordinated services.

To treat women, experts suggest coordinating services (responsive care coordination). This addresses all the needs women want to focus on. This helps women and their families. You can start to improve your team's care coordination with the OUD Toolkit today.