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It's Our First Newsletter!


Before you dive into our newsletter, we just want to thank our projects, partners, leadership committee and everyone who had been involved with IRIS thus far.


Your commitment and interest towards IRIS allows us to create change within the opioid recovery space and we thank you for that.


Sincerely,

The IRIS Team

IRIS team smiling outside in group

Congrats to the 2021 Funded Pilot Projects

 2022 Funding Cycle Coming Soon!

Check out the funded projects here

Have an idea for a project? Our next funding applications are due in April 2022. Get a head start and let us know your idea. Send us an email at [email protected]

Upcoming Trainings

Conflict Resolution and De-Escalation: The Art & Science of Managing Conflicts Within Opioid Support Service Delivery  

Date: November 12, 2021

Time: 9 AM - 12 PM

Presented by: Tyrell Moyd & Vaile Leonard

Organization: 3c Recovery Support Training Institute




Measuring What Matters: Effective Data Collection, Analysis & Utilization  

Date: Coming Soon

Presented by: The IRIS Team & community partners

Partner Spotlight: Behavioral Health Leadership Institute (BHLI)

BHLI is a low threshold provider of buprenorphine, peer support and other recovery support services.  

  

Pictured right is BHLI Executive Director Deborah Agus speaking with the IRIS team outside of the PCARE (Project Connections at Re-Entry) van. The van is located outside of Baltimore City’s Detention Center providing treatment for opioid use disorder and comorbid mental health disorders, contributing to improved treatment outcomes and reduced overdose deaths. 

Read the full Partner Spotlight here
IRIS team members talking to Deborah Agus from BHLI, outside the PCARE van

Research Corner

Emerging research in the field of OUD treatment and recovery

Article Title: Barriers impacting the POINT pragmatic trial: the unavoidable overlap between research and intervention procedures in “real-world” research


Article Authors: Allyson L. Dir, Dennis P. Watson, Matthew Zhiss, Lisa Taylor, Bethany C. Bray & Alan McGuire


Write-up by IRIS team member: Eunsong Park


Many interventions that are effective in an experimental setting do not take root in the real environment. Study authors used an implementation science approach to examine such barriers within an Indiana emergency department (ED)-based peer recovery coaching (PRC) intervention that linked opioid use disorder (OUD) patients with evidence-based medications and other supports. 

 

One barrier was that patients often do not have access to resources they need after discharge, such as a local buprenorphine prescriber. Within the ED, there was a lack of buprenorphine bridging, which has been shown to prevent withdrawal while patients get linked to longer-term medication-assisted treatment. Another barrier was the lack of community supports, which posed a challenge for PRCs to connect patients to the services they need.   

 

IRIS is working on similar projects with the Mosaic Group, focused on understanding a Maryland-based peer intervention used in multiple EDs. We seek to identify barriers and facilitators in implementing PRC services in EDs to improve outcomes and then apply learnings to other settings to facilitate the recovery of individuals with OUD.  


Source: Dir, A. L., Watson, D. P., Zhiss, M., Taylor, L., Bray, B. C., & McGuire, A. (2021). Barriers impacting the POINT pragmatic trial: The unavoidable overlap between research and intervention procedures in “real-world” research. Trials, 22(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-021-05065-3

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