Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS), will work to enhance current prevention, treatment, and recovery activities in response to the opioid epidemic through TN SOR II: Changing Behavior, Coordinating Care, and Restoring Lives. TN SOR II will increase access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT), reduce unmet treatment need due to OUD and/ or stimulant use disorder, and reduce opioid overdose-related deaths. TN SOR II populations of focus are individuals at high risk of overdose, individuals with a diagnosis of opioid use disorder, and individuals with a diagnosis of stimulant use disorder. The geographic catchment area for TN SOR II is the State of Tennessee. TDMHSAS estimates that it will serve 2,742 individuals who have an OUD and/ or stimulant use disorder through treatment, 1,397 though recovery support activities, and 80,000 through prevention services. Over the course of the TN SOR III project TDMHSAS expects 5,484 individuals to receive treatment services, 2,794 individuals to receive recovery support services, and 160,000 individuals to receive prevention services.
TN SOR III aims to: (1) increase awareness of the dangers of opioids and stimulants and of opioid overdose prevention resources, (2) educate key stakeholders on preventing overdose and on safety around illicit drugs, (3) reduce the number of overdose-related deaths through naloxone distribution; (4) train health professionals to assess and treat individuals with OUD and/ or stimulant use disorder, (5) reduce opioid overdose deaths through an Emergency Department-Initiated Buprenorphine/ Naloxone Pilot Program, (6) Expand access to MAT in rural areas of the state, (7) expand access to MAT for recovery court clients through a pilot to provide injectable buprenorphine; and (8) expand access to MAT, clinical treatment and recovery services through a Hub and Spoke model. TDMHSAS has established measurable objectives to ensure progress toward these goals, including providing opioid overdose prevention trainings to stakeholders, distributing approximately 67,000 naloxone overdose prevention kits annually to individuals at high overdose risk and their families/peers, and partner with physicians to participate in a multimodal training program (i.e. ECHO) to provide OUD and stimulant use disorder related educational opportunities to health professionals.
TN SOR III will implement prevention, treatment, and recovery interventions to ensure a multipronged comprehensive response to opioid and/or stimulant misuse. TDMHSAS will employ evidence-based practices (EBPs) including community-based naloxone distribution, and MAT, which when combined with other EBPs improves retention in treatment and reduces the risk of relapse.