Friday, April 26, 2024
4/26/2024
Project DHARMA (Distribution of Harm reduction Access in Rural Maine Areas) will serve syringe service program (SSP) clients in all sixteen counties of Maine. Being the most rural state in the nation, this grant will focus on clients in rural counties, particularly those deemed high risk for HIV/hepatitis outbreaks, as well as underserved populations such as LGBTQ+ individuals and unhoused individuals who use drugs. Developed through an unprecedented collaboration between syringe service programs, MaineHealth (the largest health system in Maine), and community organizations across the state, Project DHARMA will involve the delivery of evidence-based harm reduction strategies across the state, with a focus on utilizing Peer Support Workers embedded in SSPs to facilitate harm reduction supply distribution and linkage to care for infectious disease prevention and treatment, wound care, and substance use. Project DHARMA goals and objectives are as follows 1) Expand capacity of SSPs to deliver overdose prevention and wound care through distribution of 3,000 fentanyl test strips, 100,000 naloxone kits, innovative community drug checking/spectrometry based-testing of 1,000 SSP client samples, and distribution of 900 wound care kits 2) Expand the capacity of SSPs to screen for HIV, hepatitis B (HBV), and hepatitis C (HCV) by training 90% of SSP staff in rapid HIV/HCV and dried blood spot HCV/HBV testing, testing 4,500 SSP clients total using rapid HIV/HCV testing, offering cutting-edge dried blood spot HCV/HBV testing to 250 SSP clients, and developing and maintaining a database for HIV/HBV/HCV results 3) Promote Awareness of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in persons who use substances by training 100 primary care providers in PrEP, expanding awareness of PrEP hotline through increased SSP messaging and training 100% of project Peer Support Workers, and retaining 50% of SSP clients referred for PrEP at 6 months 4) Integrate Peer Support Workers to increase linkage and coordination necessary for people to obtain HIV, viral hepatitis, wound care, and substance use services by hiring Peer Support Workers to fill 2.5 full time positions for providing individualized support and linkage, creating and maintaining a Peer Support Worker protocol for testing and linkage to care for HIV, viral hepatitis, wound care, and substance use services, linking 80% of clients with viral hepatitis or HIV to care, and linking 80% of eligible clients to telehealth and/or onsite wound care providers 5) Expand the capacity of SSPs and academic partners to provide interprofessional harm reduction trainings by identifying specific educational needs and messaging preferences through community partner stakeholder interviews, implementing harm reduction training with 500 Interprofessional students and providers, and improving harm reduction knowledge and reducing stigma by 80%. By partnering with SSPs that collectively serve more than 2,500 clients throughout Maine (a number likely to increase because some SSPs are relatively new), Project DHARMA realistically plans to serve at least 2,000 unduplicated clients in Year 1, 2,250 clients in Year 2, and 2,500 clients in Year 3, for a total of 6,750 clients overall. Project DHARMA’s goal is to make 7,500 referrals and 9,000 linkages to support services over 3 years. With support from the state (Maine Office of Behavioral Health), Maine CDC, fourteen Federally Qualified Health Centers, academic partners and treatment providers throughout the state, as well as a knowledgeable Harm Reduction Advisory Council, Project DHARMA has the potential to facilitate access to harm reduction supplies and services to the people in Maine who need it the most.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
