Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
Bridges Healthcare’s Bridges MATT Van Expansion Initiative will expand its pilot Mobile Addiction Treatment Team (MATT) van program, which has demonstrated remarkable success in its first two years serving persons at high risk of opioid addiction or overdose, to cover evenings and weekends, increase van deployment locations and subpopulations served, and increase options for group and individual therapy, so as to improve six-month client outcomes. Populations served/clinical characteristics. The program provides services in Milford, West Haven, and New Haven, Connecticut to clients who come from a large region. The program’s focus is on (1) persons in low-income neighborhoods, who statistically have a higher rate of opioid use disorder, (2) individuals recently released from prison, (3) persons identified with recent opioid-involved medical emergencies, and (4) individuals who need or prefer the kind of immediate, anonymous care the van provides. The three towns targeted have sustained a level of opioid overdose in recent years that typically exceeds both Connecticut and national rates, often by a factor of 2 or 3. The need for MAT among those recently released from incarceration is clear: The Connecticut Dept. of Corrections estimates that about 25% of jail and prison inmates have opioid abuse disorder (OUD) -- about 225 per year in the Greater New Haven area. SAMHSA estimates that “within 3 months of release from custody, 75 percent of formerly incarcerated individuals with an OUD relapse to opioid use.” A recent study of persons who presented to hospital emergency departments with a non-fatal opioid overdose and were discharged found that 5.5% were dead within a year, with a fifth of those dying within a month. The population of low-income residents in these towns is high (almost 50% in New Haven). Low-income neighborhoods are targeted by the van, along with known sites of high drug trafficking. Proposed Project: The program’s general strategy is to deploy the van, staffed by a prescriber and a peer recovery coach, in locations of high need – including prison release and hospital locations -- where it offers peer engagement (with Motivational Interviewing), anonymity, immediate supervised Buprenorphine induction as appropriate, and assistance in enrollment in long-term clinic-based MAT. Clients receive continued MAT support until long-term treatment is established. Goals/objectives. Goal I. Increase the number of individuals with OUD receiving MAT among at-risk individuals in the targeted area. Obj. 1. Engage an additional 100 clients first year, then 150 annually (total 700). Objective 2. Initiate treatment for an additional 50 clients first year, then 75 annually (total 350). Goal II. Decrease illicit opioid drug use and prescription opioid misuse at six-month follow-up. Obj. 1. Retain 35% of clients in treatment six months. Obj. 2. 50% of clients participate in and 30% complete an Intensive Outpatient Program using IDDT. Obj. 3. 40% of family contacted through van outreach will participate in a Smart Recovery Friends and Family group. Obj. 4. 50% of clients are abstinent after 6 months. Obj. 5. Fewer than 25% of clients have an overdose within six months.
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).
