Members of the MISSION Behavioral Health Lab team at the overdose awareness vigil held August 31, 2023 at Worcester City Hall

Read more about the event here: https://www.worcestermag.com/story/lifestyle/columns/2023/09/01/worcesteria-at-overdose-vigil-remembrances-and-a-call-to-action/70712519007/

On April 13, 2023, MISSION Recovery Support Specialist Willie Clark received the Sue Bergeron Trailblazer Award

On April 13, 2023, MISSION Recovery Support Specialist Willie Clark received the 2023 Sue Bergeron Trailblazer Award from All-Inclusive Support Services (AISS) and the Hampden County Sheriff's Office. They recognize a Trailblazer as someone who " makes a pathway for others by demonstrating it is always possible for positive change." Congratulations Willie!

The Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association has teamed up with MISSION

The Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association has teamed up with MISSION to offer new Psychiatric Rehabilitation courses online PR Newswire Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 5:00am EST The Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association has teamed up with MISSION to offer new Psychiatric Rehabilitation courses online.

Read more here

Considering layering medication and psychosocial treatment for people with co-occurring opioid use and mental health disorders: What improves outcomes?

Opioid use has increased dramatically over the past two decades. The prevalence rate for opioid use disorder is higher among people with co-occurring mental health disorders as compared to the general population. Integrated multi-component behavioral interventions for individuals with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders (COD) are optimal for addressing the diverse needs of people with COD. However, engagement in treatment is a large issue for this population. Additionally, although medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is the gold standard of care for people with opioid use disorder, patients’ engagement in MOUD treatment also remains low among those with a COD. Read the full article here.

UMass Chan Medical School recieve new CDC grant

UMass Chan Medical School has received CDC funding for a grant entitled “Supporting Treatment Access and Recovery through Linkage and Support” (grant # R01CE003514). This study is aligned with the CDC’s Strategic Priority Areas, including Healthy People 2030 Core Objectives, and Ending Epidemics. This study includes partners from the University of Massachusetts - Lowell Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, Department of Public Health, and the University of Massachusetts - Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences, Department of Health Promotion and Policy, as well as community collaborations with the Worcester Department of Health and Human Services, the Worcester Emergency Management call center, and other community partners. Read full write up here!

A Whole Health Approach for Treating Opioid Addiction and Mental Illness Seeking sustainable models of integrated care

A Whole Health Approach for Treating Opioid Addiction and Mental Illness

The mental health crisis in America collides with the opioid crisis in dangerous ways, worsened by social isolation and loneliness brought on by COVID-19. Among the millions of people with opioid use disorder, more than half have a mental illness, and up to 30% of deaths associated with opioid overdose are thought to be due to suicide: a leading cause of death for people between the ages of 10 and 34.

The way we identify and treat mental health, substance use, and pain remains fragmented, even though these conditions have always been intimately connected. Although help is available to treat these individuals, only a fraction of people in need get help.

One reason is that effective treatment

often combines several components: medications, peer support, group therapy, and links to community services, such as access to food banks, housing services, employment counseling, and educational training.

Because this type of care can be difficult to access, scientists funded by the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, are optimizing it by breaking the treatment into parts and testing different combinations that may be effective and could be covered by insurance. Read the full story here on the HEAL NIH website.

New $12.3 million NIMH grant explores MISSION recovery model for opioid addiction and mental illness

A research team led by David Smelson, PsyD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Center of Excellence in Addiction, was awarded a $12.3 million, four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to study components of a multidisciplinary team-based, wrap-around treatment program for adults with opioid use disorders and co-occurring mental illness. Read more here.

UMass Chan researchers awarded $12.3M for opioid addiction treatment

A UMass Chan Medical School research team was awarded a four-year, $12.3-million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study and develop a treatment program for adults with opioid-use disorders and mental illness, according to a Monday press release from the Worcester school. Click here for full article.

People with substance use disorders may be at higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections

Co-occurring health disorders appear to contribute to increased risk, NIH study suggests. Read the article here.

Engaging vulnerable populations in drug treatment court: Six month outcomes from a co-occurring disorder wraparound intervention

Paige M. Shaffer a,*, Camilo Posada Rodriguez a, Ayorkor Gaba a, Thomas Byrne b, Sheila C. Casey c, Jennifer Harter a, David Smelson a a Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

A B S T R A C T

Objective: Although drug treatment courts (DTCs) have demonstrated positive outcomes, participants with cooccurring mental health and substance use disorders (CODs) are a high-risk group that often struggle with treatment engagement not previously examined. This pilot study fills this gap by looking at six-month behavioral health and criminal justice outcomes among a hard to engage DTC COD participant sample in two Massachusetts DTCs receiving a wraparound-treatment (Maintaining Independence and Sobriety through Systems Integration, Outreach, and Networking-Criminal Justice - MISSION-CJ). Methods: Participants were evaluated at baseline and at six-month follow-up. Bivariate analyses examined baseline differences between clients with higher versus low engagement were examined. A mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures with time as the within subject factor, and level of engagement as the between subject factor was performed for criminal justice (CJ) and behavioral health outcomes. Results: Participants were primarily male (86.6%), White (90.6%), living in unstable housing (86.2%), had an average of 18.94 years of criminal justice involvement, had an average of 15.49 years of regular illicit substance use, and mild mental health symptoms as measured by the BASIS-32 average total score (0.51), with no statistically significant differences at baseline from bivariate analyses. Mixed ANOVA results demonstrated significant effect time of time in MISSION-CJ on reducing nights in jail (p = 0.0266), opioid use (p = 0.0013), and mental health symptom (p = 0.0349). Additional improvements in nights in jail p = 0.0139), illicit substance use (p = 0.0358), and opioid use (p = 0.0013), were observed for clients that had high engagement in MISSION-CJ. Conclusions: Wraparound services, such as MISSION-CJ, alongside DTC programming for a chronic relapsing DTC population can improve engagement in treatment and CJ and behavioral health outcomes. Future research is needed with MISSION-CJ that includes a randomized trial and a larger sample.

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