Telemedicine and Social Media for People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) in Greece

The study's aim is to access the feasibility, acceptability and accessibility of social media and telemedicine as methods to obtain healthcare, in order to improve linkage-to-care among Greek substance users. Underserved populations, such as people who inject drugs (PWID) have limited access to healthcare and a potential solution to expanding healthcare access points is telemedicine. For the past decade, the investigators have studied the efficacy of a facilitated telemedicine model for hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment integrated into opioid treatment programs (OTPs) for PWIDs. The investigators have achieved high rates of HCV resolution and high patient-satisfaction through facilitated telemedicine. The investigators now seek to explore whether this same intervention might be feasible and acceptable in Greece. The first step is to capture and explore the current knowledge, experiences, believes, perceptions and attitudes of PWID in Greece regarding internet and social media usage and telemedicine concept, through targeted Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and administration of cross-sectional questionnaire. The perceptions for high-quality healthcare, confidentiality, privacy and security matters will also be explored as well as further relevant attributes.

Inclusion criteria

for the FDGs:

• >18 years old
• PWID
• Willing and able to provide informed consent and participate
• Fluent in Greek spoken language
• Internet access

Inclusion criteria

for the cross-sectional questionnaire:

• >18 years old
• PWID
• Willing and able to provide informed consent and participate
• Fluent in Greek spoken language

Exclusion criteria

for FGD and cross-sectional questionnaire:

• <18 years old
• Unable/unwilling to consent
• Legally incompetent