Community networks of services for pregnant and parenting women with problematic substance use

Abstract

Integrated treatment programs for pregnant and parenting women who use substances operate at the intersection of multiple service systems, including specialized substance use services, the broader health system, child protection, and social services. Our objectives were to describe the composition and structure of community care networks surrounding integrated treatment programs in selected communities in Ontario, Canada. We used a two-stage snowball method to collect network data from 5 purposively selected integrated treatment programs in communities in Ontario. Front-line staff with integrated treatment programs identified their top 5 service partners, who were then contacted and asked to provide the same information (n = 30). We used social network analysis to measure the cohesiveness, reciprocity, and betweenness centrality in the integrated treatment program’s ego network. We described network composition in terms of representation of different service types. Across communities, common service partners were child protection, substance use or mental health services, parenting and child support, and other social services. Primary and pre-natal care, opioid agonist therapy, and legal services were rarely named as partners. Networks varied in network cohesiveness, as indicated by connectivity between the service partners and reciprocal ties to the integrated treatment programs. Integrated treatment programs commonly brokered the connections between other service partners. Findings suggest that these integrated treatment programs have achieved a level of success in developing cross-sectoral partnerships, with child protection services, parenting and child support, and social services featuring prominently in the networks. In contrast, there was a lack of close connections with physician-based services, highlighting a potential target for future quality improvement initiatives in this sector.