HD2A RASC-SUD Implementation Support Core

This study is part of the NIH’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) initiative to speed scientific solutions to the national opioid public health crisis. The NIH HEAL Initiative bolsters research across NIH to improve treatment for opioid misuse and addiction and to develop concrete strategies capable of providing rapid and durable solutions to the opioid crisis.

SUD IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT CORE: PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Drug overdose fatalities remain high despite massive federal investment in developing and disseminating evidence-based pharmacological and behavioral interventions for substance use disorders (SUDs). Attempts to make major reductions in overdose deaths have stalled because of challenges translating research knowledge and evidence-based SUD interventions into public health practice. Access to evidence-based SUD interventions remains woefully limited throughout the U.S. health care system. Translation of research findings into practice is the domain of implementation science (IS). A core component of the HD2A Research Adoption Support Center (RASC), the SUD Implementation Support (SUD-IS) Core will bring the best of IS to the Innovation/Acceleration Projects to guide the selection, implementation, and sustainment of evidence-based, locally appropriate SUD interventions to reduce overdose risk in hard hit communities. Core leadership will unify implementation scientists and SUD researchers - with the proximal goal of enhancing the impact of the Innovation/Acceleration Projects and the ultimate goal of improving public health - by leveraging cutting-edge IS measures and methods and capitalizing on our team’s commitment to team science. Thematically and operationally in tandem with the RASC and other cores, the SUD-IS Core will elevate the Innovation Projects through dynamic and iterative phases of ASSESS, ASSIST, and ADVANCE. We will first ASSESS the current state of evidence for SUD interventions in order to: a) develop a systematic catalog of evidence-based and emerging practices; and b) develop an SUD Intervention IS Resource Guide for the Innovation Projects and any SUD intervention implementation project based on five key IS constructs (e.g., contextual determinants, evidentiary support for the intervention, stakeholder engagement, implementation strategies, and implementation outcomes). We will then ASSIST the Innovation/Acceleration Projects using information gathered in the ASSESS phase in order to: a) enhance motivation to enhance their studies with tailored IS approaches that draw upon Core expertise; b) provide an Implementation Support Plan and use a shared decision-making approach to determine how best to offer technical assistance; and c) co-lead the RASC Learning Collaborative. Finally, we will ADVANCE the Innovation Projects’ activities with respect to sustainment: linking projects with the field at large, promoting impacts on policy/financing and facilitating ongoing stakeholder engagement towards advocacy. Perfectly aligned with the RASC, together we take a major step toward closing the persistent gap of access to proven pharmacologic and psychosocial treatments for SUD.

Grant Number: 5U2CDA057717-04
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Sara Becker