Post-Lockdown Healthcare Hurdles: The Unseen Barriers to Addiction Treatment Services

For those already struggling to access addiction treatment, the long-term impact of COVID-19 restrictions have created impossible barriers.

Restrictions have been lifted and precautionary measures have been revoked, yet those already ignored by society continue to feel the impact of pandemic restrictions.

Prior to COVID-19, access to addiction treatment services was already limited and those looking for help faced significant barriers. Minimal knowledge of programs and intense waitlists prevented many from getting help, and protocols implemented during the pandemic have only made them worse.

Helen Abushawish, a registered psychotherapist with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) in Barrie, ON, saw first hand the impact that restrictions have had on the availability of  addiction services during the pandemic, and the ripple effect that continues. Working in the Residential Withdrawal Management program at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, her clients are primarily those who otherwise do not have access to treatment services beyond hospital-based facilities. “Some people don't have access to phones and internet. Sometimes the only way for them to receive services is in person.”

It is not just centers like the RVH that feel the impact either. A study conducted in February 2023 found that 26.6 per cent of treatment providers felt the biggest barrier was that their patients could not access virtual care. Those experiencing poverty or homelessness, or are located in remote communities continue to be the most affected by the shift to virtual care, as they lack access to stable internet connections and personal electronics.

For some individuals in recovery however, the option to receive virtual care is a way to break down certain barriers. Andy Clark has been in recovery since June 2023 and sees virtual meetings as a way for anyone concerned about in-person programs to take that first step. “There are societal barriers just in your internalized stigma of addiction to actually going to attend an AA meeting,” he says. “If the barrier to you getting help is the in-person anxiety of going to meetings, I think it's much more important to just do it online, just to get a sense, before you go to one for real.”

Clark recommends accessing detox centers, though he emphasizes that their increasingly long wait-lists may turn people off. According to Drug Rehab Services, the average wait time to access a bed at a government funded detox center in Canada is anywhere between 40 to 50 days. In his opinion, this can be the main reason someone chooses to not access treatment.

“That single day waiting for a bed to move in can be too much time for some people where they decide they're going to start using again.”

The state of post-lockdown treatment options is concerning for some, though recent federal decisions to increase funding for addiction programs may be a step in the right direction. For Clark, this hopefully means someone can access treatment as soon as they want to, rather than having to wait.

“If you realize you have a problem, I think it's better to get in front of it early, rather than waiting until you're in a crisis state. In certain places, that's what it has to come to for people to get help.”