Promoting Health Equity Among People With Opioid Use Disorder and Serious Mental Illness Through the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program

People with opioid use disorder (OUD) experience higher prevalence of serious mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) and chronic disease (e.g., diabetes) relative to the general population, less access to high quality health care, and limited access to evidence-based treatments that promote self-management of chronic health conditions. The Chronic Disease Self-Management Program is a widely used patient education intervention that imparts disease knowledge and self-management skills to people with a range of medical conditions. In this Perspective Column, a multidisciplinary team of community-based researchers representing the fields of social work and addiction medicine argue that implementing the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program in a primary care environment is a promising way to build the self-management skills of people with OUD and co-occurring mental illness and chronic disease.