Introduction
CTN-0144: Integrating Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) in Nonmedical Community Settings (Better Together)
Better Together Study Background & Goals
This study looks at how different treatment methods can help people with opioid addiction stay in treatment and achieve the goals they set. The study is taking place in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Miami-Dade County, and the Baltimore metropolitan area.
We want to determine if treatment for opioid addiction, in partnership with a Recovery Guide and with options to use Telehealth visits from community settings instead of traditional clinic-based care, helps people stay in treatment longer. In this new approach, patients who receive buprenorphine (a medication that helps treat opioid addiction) can have follow-up visits with their medical provider via telehealth from trusted places in the community such as churches, community centers, or family support centers. They also meet with a Recovery Guide, who provides specialized coaching designed for this program. We will compare this community-based treatment (called BT-MOUD) to the standard treatment, where patients go to a medical clinic for their medication (called HC-MOUD).
In Chicago, two organizations, Breakthrough and Institute for Nonviolence Chicago (INVC), offer space for participants in the Better Together group to have their telehealth visits or meet with their Recovery Guides. Mile Square Health Center provides clinic-based treatment.
