Mobile clinics for opioid use disorders: What they do and how they do it. A qualitative analysis.

Introduction: People with substance use disorders (SUD) face many barriers to receiving evidence-based treatments including access to and cost of treatment. People who use drugs face stigma that limits access to traditional office-based clinics. With the goal of reducing morbidity and mortality, mobile clinics reduce many of these barriers by providing harm reduction and on-demand low-threshold medical care.

LatinX harm reduction capital, medication for opioid use disorder, and nonfatal overdose: A structural equation model analysis among people who use drugs in Massachusetts.

Background: We introduce the concept of harm reduction capital (HRCap) as the combination of knowledge, resources, and skills related to substance use risk reduction, which we hypothesize to predict MOUD use and opioid overdose. In this study, we explored the interrelationships between ethnicity, HRCap, nonfatal overdose, and MOUD use among PWUD.

Methods: Between 2017 and 2019, people who currently or in the past used opioids and who lived in Massachusetts completed a one-time survey on substance use history, treatment experiences, and use of harm reduction services.

Protocol for the implementation of a statewide mobile addiction program.

With overdose deaths increasing, improving access to harm reduction and low barrier substance use disorder treatment is more important than ever. The Community Care in Reach model uses a mobile unit to bring both harm reduction and clinical care for addiction to people experiencing barriers to office-based care. These mobile units provide many resources and services to people who use drugs, including safer consumption supplies, naloxone, medication for substance use disorder treatment, and a wide range of primary and preventative care.

Implementation and Uptake of the Massachusetts Drug Supply Data Stream: A Statewide Public Health-Public Safety Partnership Drug Checking Program.

Context: The illicit drug supply is rapidly evolving. Equally important to gathering drug supply data for monitoring is timely sharing of information with people who use drugs, the providers who care for them, law enforcement partners, and public health stakeholders so that efforts to avoid harmful substances, take preventive actions, and better target interventions can occur.

Program: The Massachusetts Drug Supply Data Stream (MADDS) is the country's first statewide community drug checking program.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health Post Overdose Support Team Initiative: A Public Health-Centered Co-Response Model for Post-Overdose Outreach.

Context: Post-overdose outreach programs have emerged in response to surging overdose deaths amid fentanyl contamination of the illicit opioid supply. Predominantly centered in police departments in collaboration with public health providers, these programs conduct home-based outreach with survivors and their social networks following an overdose.

Approach: We describe implementation of the Post Overdose Support Team (POST) initiative, an ongoing public health funded and centered approach.

Caring for People Who Use Drugs: Best Practices for EMS Providers.

People who use drugs (PWUD) face stigmatizing treatment and substandard care during all stages of their health care journey, including in the prehospital setting by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers. Drawing on the professional and lived experience of the authors, we have developed a training with an intended audience of Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and Paramedics in Massachusetts that will orient them to harm reduction philosophy. The training is delivered online through an asynchronous platform housed at Boston University School of Public Health and centers around several themes including the impact of fentanyl on the drug supply, the role of harm reduction in mitigating the impacts of drug criminalization, and ensuring that EMS providers have access to tools and best practices for improving overdose response, pain management, documentation, and respectful language.

Prevalence and correlates of non-fatal overdose among people who use drugs: findings from rapid assessments in Massachusetts, 2017-2019.

Background: People who experience non-fatal overdose (NFOD) are at high risk of subsequent overdose. With unprecedented increases in fentanyl in the US drug supply, many Massachusetts (MA) communities have seen a surge in opioid-related overdoses. The objective of this study was to determine factors associated with lifetime and past year NFOD in at-risk MA communities.

Post opioid overdose outreach by public health and public safety agencies: Exploration of emerging programs in Massachusetts.

Background: Opioid overdose is a significant public health problem. Collaborative programs between local public health and public safety agencies have emerged to connect overdose survivors and their personal networks with harm reduction and addiction treatment services following a non-fatal overdose event. This study explored the prevalence of these programs in Massachusetts and the different ways they have been structured and function.