ATHOL — Athol and Orange are among the 16 Massachusetts communities to be included in an $89 million, nationally funded research study led by Boston Medical Center, as public and private partners continue to wrestle with the best approaches to reduce opioid-related deaths.
Greenfield, Montague, Athol and Orange will represent one-quarter of the 16 communities that will be studied, which may mean elevated services, such as increased access to medically assisted treatment for some of these communities. Massachusetts is one of four states to receive this award along with Kentucky, New York State, and Ohio.
The study, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a part of the National Institutes of Health, will look to reduce opioid deaths by 40 percent.
The research will see how successful office-based addiction treatment can be delivered and the value of community education, increased access to medically assisted treatments, like methadone and Suboxone, and the role of hospitals and jails in detox.
In early May, leaders from across this state involved with this research study will meet to discuss details. This will likely include representatives from the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region, Community Health Center of Franklin County, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the North Quabbin Community Coalition.
“The opioid crisis in Massachusetts has been devastating, as it has been across the country,” said Jeffrey Samet, MD, MA, MPH, Chief of General Internal Medicine at BMC and professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. “This research study is a major step forward. We will take what we’ve learned at Boston Medical Center and across Massachusetts over the past 20 years and work with our partners to bring those initiatives together to make a serious dent in the overdose death rate. It means pulling out all the stops.” Samet will be leading this statewide research study effort.
Register John F. Merrigan and Opioid Task Force Co-Chair said, “In terms of fatal drug overdoses, 2018 was one of the worst years we’ve had in the region since we started tracking overdose deaths in 2013. We must keep exploring new ways to help people and their families impacted by addiction.”
Franklin County Sheriff Christopher J. Donelan and Opioid Task Force Co-Chair, said, “I have been going to too many funerals of young people who have died from an opioid overdose. We are eager to learn from other communities to save lives.”
“Data from my office showed a 166.6% increase in opioid-related deaths in 2018 over 2017,” said Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan and Opioid Task Force Co-Chair. “We are defying state-wide trends where overdose death rates are going down. Participating in this study will help us better understand why this is happening.”
The approach of BMC’s study will be to partner with 16 communities across the state to test the impact of Office-Based Addiction Treatment (OBAT) and the deployment of additional interventions. Eight sites will implement OBAT and eight will implement OBAT with additional programs, such as community education, accelerated access to medication during hospitalization, jail, and detoxification as well as prevention and intervention programs in communities, schools, and doctor’s offices.
“The North Quabbin Region has been ravaged by the opioid epidemic,” said Heather Bialecki-Canning, Executive Director of the North Quabbin Community Coalition. “We look forward to working with our partners across the state to implement strategies to save lives.”
Debra McLaughlin, Coordinator of the Opioid Task Force said, “This grant could bring more medication-assisted treatment (MAT), among other resources to the region, which would address the significant treatment deserts in our rural communities. Having the opportunity to have more access to MAT, including methadone, would be an incredible boost to our life-saving efforts.”
Formed in September 2013, the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region has more than 400 members working together to help reduce opioid and heroin addiction, prevent overdose deaths, and improve the quality of life in the region through its prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery initiatives and committees.
The Coalition serves Athol, Erving, New Salem, Orange, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Warwick and Wendell. The Coalition is a community-wide alliance committed to improving the quality of life for all those living and working in the North Quabbin. Formed in 1984, it offers a monthly forum where individuals come together to address some of the region’s most pressing concerns as well as a range of workgroups and task forces.
The Coalition serves three primary purposes within the community to 1) advocate and respond to community emergent issues; 2) address community priorities; and 3) disseminate information and provide networking opportunities.