Opioid use disorder (OUD) has devastating effects on individuals, families, and communities, and these effects have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the early phases of the pandemic, social distancing and fear of the disease resulted in a decline in in-person primary care and behavioral health visits as well as a shift to virtual care; the impact of this shift is unknown. Though medication treatments for OUD, such as buprenorphine, save lives, rates of OUD treatment adherence are low. The impact of untreated OUD on personal relationships is often neglected, and the potential role family members and other support persons (SPs) could have on encouraging a patient’s OUD treatment adherence and long-term recovery is ignored. Family members and SPs of patients with OUD often experience significant impacts to their mental health, but they are not aware of resources available to them. Managing their well-being through the recovery process allows them to support their patient with OUD more effectively.
