Technical Assistance Core

George Mason University, Fairfax VA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The JCOIN 2.0 Technical Assistance (TA) Core promotes the uptake of scientific knowledge to address overdose and substance use disorders at individual, community, organizational, and policy levels. The TA Core proposes to advance health equity by prioritizing organizations that serve minoritized populations who are historically marginalized and disproportionately impacted by substance use, overdose, and criminal legal system (CLS) involvement. TA includes activities to increase awareness of research findings, identify pertinent scientific studies, facilitate one-on-one discussions and partnerships with researchers, customize evidence-informed practices to local needs, assist with evaluation plans, facilitate dissemination and implementation support, and establish enduring learning communities and toolkits. The TA Core will center on cultural competence, humility, and the empowerment of organizations to use data and research to improve practices. The proposed TA Core will be administered by Dr. Howard Henderson from Texas Southern University and pursue three aims. Aim 1: Provide community-based organizations, justice/criminal legal system organizations, and other state and local government agencies with ready access to research findings, particularly from JCOIN 1.0 and 2.0 studies, that are pertinent to advancing the use and uptake of evidence-informed treatments and practices. Aim 2: Provide hands-on technical assistance to facilitate implementation and uptake of research findings into practice using proven implementation strategies, including quality improvement processes and learning communities. Aim 3: Develop materials that address the needs of stakeholders to implement evidence-informed practices. A central feature of the TA work is to facilitate researcher-practitioner partnerships which can enhance strategic planning, fill gaps in treatment and service delivery needs, develop and implement evidence-driven programs and strategies, and engage in continual evaluation, quality improvement, and innovation. A special feature of the proposed TA Core is the ability to customize TA to the needs of the requesting organization/jurisdiction. The range of TA activities includes customized assessment, virtual learning or consultation, peer-to-peer interactions, access to researchers working in areas of interest, and website exchanges. TA team members will work with requesting organizations to assess needs, identify resources, and facilitate exchanges with researchers or organizations that have adopted and/or implemented empirical research into practice to reduce overdoses and address health inequity issues. The TA Core team will engage in special outreach efforts with the opioid abatement efforts at the state level and with Tribal Communities. Working with the other CTC Cores, the TA Core will develop several online courses and toolkits such as “Measuring Overdose Prevention and Response Efforts,” “Community-Based Organization Innovations in Data Collection,” and “Cultural Competency in Overdose Prevention,” as well as toolkits on “Data Collection for Community-Based Organizations,” “Using Geospatial Analyses,” and “Integrating Violence Prevention Efforts in Overdose Practices.” This project 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.