Community Integration Rural Coordination Learning Embrace (CIRCLE) of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) Care for Rural Health Care and Correctional Settings - Stratis Health’s Community Integration Rural Coordination Learning Embrace (CIRCLE) of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) Care project is substance use training program aimed at meeting the critical need for coordinated medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) care between county correctional health and community providers. Our project will enable care plans grounded in evidence-based clinical practices and support patients in their transition from jail to community and ongoing recovery. The results will benefit the community and make it easier for recently incarcerated people to continue MOUD post-release, thus reducing the risk of relapse, mortality, and recidivism among this vulnerable population.
Stratis Health will implement the project in rural Itasca and Meeker Counties in Minnesota, as a partnership between the local health system, clinic, and county jail with the support of an activated community. The project will:
1) Train Clinicians, Care Teams, and Administrators
Stratis Health will develop and offer an intense one-day training for Itasca and Meeker Counties clinicians, care teams, and administrators from local health systems, clinics, and jails and provide technical assistance to support design and implementation of MOUD programs. As a result, trainees will be enabled to launch and sustain MOUD programs.
2) Expand MOUD Access
We will support the county jails as new MOUD care delivery sites and will expand care delivery through coordination with local health care delivery.
3) Create Community Ownership and Sustainability
Stratis Health will help the community to create a locally-led task force and identify local clinician champion(s) in each community. This will enable local leadership and sustainability to coordinate community efforts broadly based on community interest and needs. We will connect communities with the Steve Rummler Hope Network, a Minnesota-based organization which supports establishment of local naloxone distribution sites.
Stratis Health is an independent nonprofit 501(c)3 organization based in Minnesota, established in 1971. Stratis Health began addressing the opioid crisis in 2014, focusing on a) increasing access to evidence-based and culturally relevant care for OUD, b) improving the appropriate prescribing of opioids for pain management, and c) reducing disparities in OUD care and outcomes. Stratis Health’s local implementation sites are in Itasca and Meeker Counties in rural Minnesota. In each community, the health system, clinic, and county jail have committed to work with Stratis Health over the 1-year period of the project.
