Grant: Project Grant

Individuals who sustained a traumatic injury are 2 to 11 times more likely to report long-term opioid use compared with the general population. Our previous research has highlighted the need for an intervention to promote optimal opioid use behaviour in trauma patients. Above all, the many interested parties we consulted stressed the importance of considering the current limitations in healthcare resources when implementing this intervention. As a result, we have initiated the co-design of a sustainable behavioural intervention to prevent opioid use problems in trauma patients in collaboration with interested parties. The objectives of this study are therefore to complete the co-design of the intervention with interested parties (i.e., healthcare professionals, persons with lived experience, decision-makers) and assess its usability. Firstly, we will be organizing three series of four focus groups with French and English-speaking interested parties to obtain their feedback on the intervention template we have developed in preliminary work and on the intervention material that will be developed. Second, we will assess the usability of the intervention with trauma patients and family members, as well as clinicians who will provide the intervention in four trauma centres to refine the intervention. This project will design an intervention adapted to the needs of trauma patients, considering the perspectives of interested parties as well as the current critical pressure on health care resources, with a high probability of sustainability. The results will be used to refine the intervention, the feasibility of which will be assessed as part of a future research project. This project therefore has enormous potential to optimize opioid use in trauma patients and ultimately improve their quality of life and that of their families, while helping to reduce the burden of opioid use problems on the healthcare system and society.