Dartmouth College has received a $4 million grant to research new models for providing opioid addiction treatment to patients outside of traditional healthcare settings.
The grant will fund a number of different research projects at Dartmouth, including a pilot program to test the effectiveness of a new injection-form of buprenorphine, a drug that can reduce withdrawal symptoms for people suffering from opioid addiction.
Another project will look at how opioid addiction treatment is administered in emergency rooms.
“We know that there are effective treatments,” said Dartmouth professor Lisa Marsch who is leading several of the research projects. “There are treatments that work, that are well documented to work and be life-saving for the treatment of opioid use disorder. One of our biggest challenges is access.”
Marsch says much of the work will center on finding ways to deliver addiction treatment that don’t rely on the traditional treatment model.
“There are lots of other places where there are opportunities to engage people and engage them in effective treatment - like in the justice system, like when they come to the emergency department.”
Other research funded by the grant will look at using tele-medicine to treat opioid addiction in rural communities.
The grant is part of a nationwide round of funding totaling $945 million from the National Institutes of Health.
