Past Projects & Publications
Building Capacity to Prevent Youth Overdose
Goal: Build skills and knowledge among youth, families, and providers to conduct PCOR (patient-centered outcomes research) and CER (comparative effectiveness research) that addresses youth overdose.
What we did: Our six-member youth community advisory board (CAB) - including youth ages 19-24 and a parent/youth advocate in Massachusetts - met 13 times over the year. They helped shape key research questions and plans for future studies on youth overdose prevention and education.
What we discovered: The CAB highlighted important topics like risk factors for youth overdose and ideas for youth-focused overdose interventions, including what they should include, where they should happen, and what results matter most.
Funding: Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award (EACB-26846)
Goal: To find out what overdose prevention programs for youth exist in the U.S. so we can help create better youth overdose prevention education and resources for young people.
What we did: Our team reviewed multiple databases, government websites, and major news outlets to find youth overdose prevention programs from 2010 - 2023. Through our review we found 16 unique programs.
What we discovered: There aren’t enough overdose prevention programs designed for youth, and the ones that do exist could be better tailored to meet the needs and experiences of young people.
Interested in learning more?: The full study can be read in the Journal of Addiction Medicine.
Funding: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through BU-CTSI Grant Number 1UL1TR001430
A Scoping Review of Youth Overdose Prevention Interventions
Goal: To learn what school-based health center (SBHC) staff in Massachusetts thins about providing overdose prevention education and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in schools.
What we did: We worked with 13 SBHC staff members — medical and behavioral health providers. They completed two rounds of interviews about overdose prevention, opioid use disorder treatment, and harm reduction. We looked at the main themes from the interviews to give recommendations on how overdose prevention and treatment programs could be designed and implemented in SBHCs.
Updates: This project’s findings will be published soon in an academic journal — check back for more info! *updated March 16
Funding: NIDA Grant R25DA033211 and the Becca Schmill Foundation.