The Pediatric Research Subgroup of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Region III Opioid Overdose Prevention Collaborative has been approved for a $15,000 award by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to support a project on “Engaging Community Partners to Decrease Addiction.”
Jo Dee Gottlieb, director of the undergraduate social work program at Marshall University, serves as a member of the Research Leadership Team, which is composed of a diverse group of interdisciplinary members. She said they will use the funds provided through PCORI’s Pipeline to Proposal Awards program to build a partnership of individuals and groups who share the leadership team’s desire to advance patient-centered outcomes research.
“We are pleased to be a part of this project,” Gottlieb said. “There are so many people in West Virginia and in our local community who have joined together to identify strategies to address the opiate problem. The PCORI award is another opportunity to engage our community and identify approaches to educate young people, families and service providers.”
West Virginia joins Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia as participants in the project in the SAMHSA Region III.
“The overprescribing of opioids to pediatric patients is an epidemic,” Gottlieb said. “This project will engage and empower stakeholders with a novel approach in building new partnerships to explore challenges related to pain management in youth and among those at risk of addiction.”
Partners will be organized to enhance understanding of youth pain management challenges including accessing treatment, coordinating care, preventing medication misuse and navigating privacy regulations. The project’s first task will be to cultivate a core team of stakeholders, including individuals in recovery from substance use disorders, family members, policy makers, researchers, clinicians and administrators, according to Gottlieb.
PCORI is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010 to fund comparative effectiveness research that will provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence needed to make better-informed health and healthcare decisions. PCORI is committed to seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work.
If you are interested in partnering with the Region III Leadership Team, please contact Gottlieb at gottlieb@marshall.edu or Jean.Bennett@samhsa.hhs.gov. To learn more about Marshall’s Department of Social Work, visit www.marshall.edu/social-work.