The Wheeler Waterbury Medication Assisted Treatment (Waterbury MAT) Program will expand and enhance access to MAT services and recovery supports by extending culturally appropriate community outreach and engagement; nurse care management; integrated MAT substance abuse, mental health treatment, and primary health care services; and peer recovery supports for adults with opioid use disorders in the greater Waterbury, Connecticut community.
Wheeler, a leading behavioral health services provider in CT, will implement the MAT Program at its Family Health & Wellness Center at 855 Lakewood Road in Waterbury for adults with opioid use disorders who live in the community. Waterbury’s overall poverty rate (23.4%) is more than double the statewide average and the city is diverse with 37.4% of residents identifying as Hispanic/Latinx, 18.8% as African-American/Black, and 37.8% as Caucasian. CT experienced 1,374 accidental overdose deaths in 2020, an 88.5% increase over 2015. The City of Waterbury had 343 accidental overdose deaths from 2015-2020, the second highest of any city in CT. Further, the overdose rate in Waterbury from 2018-2020 increased 74.4% from the three years prior.
The Waterbury MAT program will enhance and expand services available at the Waterbury Family Health & Wellness Center by increasing MAT services and adding care management and peer supports. Services will include: community outreach, engagement, and awareness; walk-in comprehensive clinical assessments for co-occurring disorders; provision of MAT (Buprenorphine, Extended Release Naltrexone, and other FDA approved medications) utilizing strategies to increase compliance and reduce the risk of diversion; connection and linkages to community services to address social determinants of health; innovative interventions such as the use of the myStrength digital behavioral health application to engage and retain clients in treatment; peer supports; tobacco cessation services; and coordination of care with Ryan White HIV/AIDS services.
A high quality process and outcome evaluation will determine the effectiveness of the implementation and client outcomes utilizing GPRA and other data from the electronic health record. Outcome objectives include: all Waterbury MAT participants will have a comprehensive recovery plan fully integrating MAT, behavioral health, primary health, and recovery support services to promote and sustain recovery; at least 65% of participants will increase retention and achieve favorable treatment outcomes; at least 75% of participants will reduce substance abuse; and at least 65% of participants will improve primary and mental health symptoms and treatment compliance. The Waterbury MAT Program will serve 100 adults each year for a total of 500 adults over the five-year grant period.