Posts by Saman

Introduction and commentary regarding research, policy, and barriers to the use of MOUD in carceral settings.

Delays in vaccinating communities of color to COVID-19 have signaled a need to investigate structural barriers to vaccine uptake, with mass incarceration demanding greater characterization as a potential factor. In a nationally representative survey from February-March 2021 (N = 1,157), exposure to the criminal legal system, defined as having been incarcerated in prison or jail…

We report on lessons learned in the first two years of the pandemic that were gleaned from a unique partnership with three carceral systems and based on 100 interviews we conducted with incarcerated people, correctional workers, and medical staff. They point to unique structural and operational challenges that carceral facilities face in prioritizing the goal…

Actual (real-world) and counterfactual scenarios of varying levels of social and spatial inequity to providers of methadone were evaluated using HepCEP, a validated agent-based model of syringe sharing behaviors among people who inject drugs (PWID) in metropolitan Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. Synthetic spatial distributions reflecting disparate geographic patterns of methadone provider location and population characteristics are…

Commentary regarding research, policy, and stigma related to harm reduction efforts to address the overdose crisis.

People with opioid use disorder (OUD) are overrepresented in US correctional facilities and experience disproportionately high risk for illicit opioid use and overdose after release. A growing number of correctional facilities offer medication for OUD (MOUD), which is effective in reducing these risks. However, a recent evaluation found that <50% of those prescribed MOUD during…

Overcrowding and limited ability to social distance contribute to high rates of COVID-19 outbreaks in correctional facilities. Despite CDC recommendations, incarcerated persons and correctional staff report a high prevalence of vaccine-hesitance. We sought to identify reasons underlying COVID-19 vaccine hesitation and refusal in correctional systems. We searched PubMed abstracts and reviewed literature relevant to COVID-19…

Research networks encourage team science and facilitate collaboration within and across research teams. While many analyses have examined the output of these collaborative networks (e.g., authorship networks, publications, grant applications), less attention has been paid to the formative phases of these initiatives. This article presents analyses of a whole-network survey of investigators participating in a…

The aim of this study is to assess the availability of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and other services for pregnant people in jails in counties heavily impacted by opioid overdose in the U.S. Most jails in the study sample (84.5%) have MOUD available for pregnant people, however, less than half of these jails…