By Eric Wicklund, mHealth Intelligence | July 25, 2019
A dozen health systems and universities across the country will take part in a $155 million, NIH-funded project aimed at improving opioid abuse treatment in the nation’s prison system. They’ll be looking at telehealth and mHealth, among other things, to affect those changes.
Telehealth and mHealth will play a significant role in a $155 million project launched by the National Institutes of Health to improve substance abuse treatment in the nation’s prisons.
Twelve health systems and universities will take part in the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN), formed through funding from the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse to support research on quality addiction treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD).
The massive project will include research on digital health tools and telehealth platforms that support OUD treatment, such as remote patient monitoring services, Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) therapy and Project ECHO telemedicine programs.
“Within the broader opioid epidemic, justice-involved populations are disproportionately affected by opioid use disorder,” NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, MD, said in a press release. “JCOIN will help develop effective intervention and treatment strategies for this crucial setting.”
“It is vitally important to provide evidence-based approaches for people leaving criminal justice facilities in order to prevent relapse and opioid overdose which often occurs as they transition back into their communities,” she added.
The project consists of 10 research centers, which will work with at least five communities to “address gaps in OUD treatment and related services in a wide range of criminal justice settings, including jails, drug courts, problem-solving courts, policing and diversion, re-entry, and probation and parole.” The network, spanning some 15 states and Puerto Rico, will be overseen by two support centers.
The participating research centers are:
- The New York State Psychiatric Institute.
- Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA.
- The Friends Research Institute in Baltimore.
- Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX, covering sites in Illinois, New Mexico and Texas.
- The New York University School of Medicine, covering sites in Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, New York and Oregon.
- Brown University in Providence, RI, covering sites in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
- The University of Chicago in Illinois.
- Chestnut Health Systems in Bennington, IL.
- The University of Kentucky.
- Yale University in New Haven, CT, covering sites in Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina and Puerto Rico.
George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, will serve as the JCOIN coordination and translation center, and will also “conduct research to identify effective dissemination strategies for reaching criminal justice stakeholders and provide funding for rapid turnaround innovative pilot studies.” The University of Chicago will serve as the methodology and advanced analytic resource center, and will also “conduct novel empirical research to understand the changes in state policies and practices within the criminal justice system as they relate to the opioid crisis.”
JCOIN is part of the NIH HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Initiative, which was launched in April 2018 to research and spur development of scientific solutions to stem the national opioid public health crisis.