More than 2,700 Illinois residents died of opioid overdose in 2017—a number that surpassed the state’s combined fatalities from road accidents and gun homicide.
The University of Chicago JCOIN Research Center is conducting a multi-site trial called ROMI (Reducing Opioid Mortality in Illinois) to study the effectiveness of case management approaches to link individuals with community-based treatment services upon release from jail. The ROMI intervention includes peer recovery coaches to improve linkages to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), supportive services, naloxone distribution, and harm reduction services for justice-involved individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD).
The study will utilize a hub-and-spoke model anchored at the University of Illinois at Chicago to help unify the delivery of OUD treatment and harm reduction services across four jails and two prisons throughout Illinois. The goal of the study is to examine the effectiveness of these case management approaches combined with peer recovery coaches to improve MOUD retention and outcomes.
Study Settings: Jails/Prisons, Treatment/Healthcare Settings
Study Location: Illinois
Publications:
- Opioid Prescribing Patterns Before Fatal Opioid Overdose (2020)
- Reducing opioid mortality in Illinois (ROMI): A case management/peer recovery coaching critical time intervention clinical trial protocol (2021)
- “I Just Don’t Know What to Believe”: Sensemaking during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Criminal Legal Involved Communities (2022)
- Speaking and learning across disciplines in the harm reduction debate (2023)
Grant number: UG1DA050066
Link to NIH Reporter record: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9882847
Study Team
PI: Harold Pollack, PhD, John Schneider, Mai Pho
• Facilitate linkages to OUD services for justice-involved individuals upon return to the community
• Engage participants in OUD treatment and harm reduction strategies
• Examine the efficacy of case management and peer recovery coach interventions for individuals eligible for OUD treatment
• Identify implementation barriers and best practices
Clinical Trial, Linkage Strategies