U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
There are multiple effective evidence-based treatments and programs for opioid use disorder (OUD). Most Americans at risk for or with OUD, however, do not receive appropriate treatment for their disorder. At the same time, opioid overdoses continue to kill thousands of Americans. To better understand how promising and evidence-based strategies and treatments might help more people with OUD, the Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative®, will deploy a suite of implementation science efforts to test the integration of evidence-based interventions in an array of settings.
Research Programs
The HEALing Communities Study will test the integration of prevention, overdose treatment, and medication-based treatment in select communities hard hit by the opioid crisis. This comprehensive treatment model will be tested in a coordinated array of settings, including primary care, emergency departments, and other community settings. Findings will establish best practices for integrating prevention and treatment strategies that can be replicated by communities nationwide.
The NIH HEAL Initiative will expand the size and scope of research conducted by the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN). This expansion will help address emergent needs presented by the opioid crisis. The CTN will integrate new opioid-related research questions into studies currently underway, expedite new studies in general medical and other settings, and enhance clinical and research training opportunities.
The Justice Community Opioid Intervention Network (JCOIN) will study quality care for opioid misuse and OUD in justice populations. JCOIN will help create partnerships between local and state justice systems and community-based treatment providers. Findings will address the critical need to improve the quality of OUD treatment in the justice system.
The NIH HEAL Initiative will work with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to learn if combining behavioral interventions with medication-based treatment for OUD can lead to better results. Some of the behavioral interventions to be studied include mindfulness meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy, and multidisciplinary rehabilitation. Researchers will examine whether these behavioral interventions improve adherence to medication-based treatment, improve outcomes, and reduce relapse.
Through the Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative® and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH supports the Recovery Research Networks. This program focuses on developing multi-stakeholder networks (researchers, payors, providers, people in recovery) to support the development of infrastructure to advance the science of long-term recovery. Five projects form the Consortium on Addiction Recovery Science (CoARS). Collectively, these projects are developing resources to support recovery research with a focus on community-based recovery centers, justice-involved youth, family-based recovery, recovery in rural settings, and integrated networks of care.
Funded Projects
Closed Funding Opportunities
NIH establishes network to improve opioid addiction treatment in criminal justice settings
NIH establishes network to improve opioid addiction treatment in criminal justice settings
The National Institutes of Health will award 12 grants to form the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) to support research on quality addiction treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) in criminal justice settings nationwide.
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Dr. Baker on the HEALing Communities Study
Director of the HEAL Initiative Dr. Rebecca Baker discusses the HEALing Communities Study on AM 970's The Joe Piscopo Show.
NIH funds study in four states to reduce opioid related deaths by 40 percent over three years
As part of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar’s cross-cutting Department initiatives to address the opioid epidemic, the National Institutes of Health today selected four research sites for the HEALing Communities Study in four states hard hit by the opioid crisis.