Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
Through the MATTER Project (MAT Therapy Engagement Recovery), the Public Health Trust/Jackson Memorial’s MAT Clinic seeks to expand access to Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) and comprehensive psychosocial services to persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) living in Miami-Dade County. MATTER will work proactively to identify, link, treat, and engage persons with OUD in their recovery, and expand access to preventative health care. Opioid misuse and abuse is an ongoing health crisis in Miami-Dade, leading to preventable fatalities, hospitalizations, incarcerations, and socioeconomic trauma to individuals and communities. County-wide interventions have slowed the increasing rate of opioid overdose deaths, opioid-related emergency department visits, and neonatal abstinence syndrome birth defects, but overall numbers have not decreased. Recent data suggests an increase in opiate use in Miami-Dade County going into 2020. Since January 2017, Jackson MAT Clinic has provided outpatient MAT through partnerships with the drug court, Miami Police, and mental health and substance abuse service providers. Referrals are primarily from sources that mandate treatment, even though voluntary participation is critical to patients’ long-term engagement and recovery. MATTER seeks to expand the Clinic to reach persons with OUD who will voluntarily participate in treatment before becoming involved in mandated treatment. Goals include increasing referrals to and enrollment in MATTER; increasing participants’ engagement in recovery; decreasing participants’ illicit opioid use and prescription opioid misuse; and improving project capacity for recruiting, enrolling, and retaining participants. MATTER will serve 188 individuals during the five-year grant, beginning with 24 in Year 1 and increasing each year. As part of the county’s public safety-net health system, MATTER’s focus population will reflect county demographics and disparities, including undocumented, homeless, uninsured, and/or vulnerable residents. Access to this pre-existing network also means that MATTER is well-placed to respond to the co-occurring mental, physical, and polysubstance abuse issues facing residents with OUD. In addition to outpatient MAT, MATTER will provide detoxification, clinical and needs assessments, cognitive behavioral therapy, recovery support, coordination with psychiatric and physical health interventions, and links to community resources. MATTER will build on existing partnerships with JHS Corrections Health Services and Thriving Mind South Florida to strengthen and streamline referral protocols. MATTER will also incorporate Pear Therapeutics’ prescription digital technology reSET-O to better engage and assist participants and increase recruitment, engagement, and linkages to resources by hiring a Peer Specialist and Case Manager. Behavioral Services Research Institute (BSRI) will serve as the MATTER Evaluator to ensure program compliance and effectiveness.
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).
