Linkage Facilitation Across the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network

Graphic illustrating the synergy among justice community members in the opioid innovation network, focusing on linkage facilitation.

The transition from incarceration back into the community is a particularly vulnerable time, especially for individuals with substance use disorder (SUD). Many individuals with SUD are released without connection to services or a clear plan for continuing treatment. Linkage facilitation has shown to be an effective strategy for ensuring seamless connections to community-based treatment programs, resources, support networks, and additional care systems during re-entry. 

The term "linkage facilitation" (LF), also known as "linkage to care," refers to a variety of programs designed to assist people with opioid use disorder (OUD) in obtaining appropriate treatment and harm reduction interventions, continuing to take their medications as prescribed, participating in SUD/OUD recovery support services, and obtaining social and behavioral resources that support both short-term and long-term recovery objectives (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022).

This webinar delved into various linkage facilitation efforts that the JCOIN Clinical Research Centers (Research Hubs) are utilizing. Speakers summarized their unique approaches, discussed challenges and outcomes, and highlighted successful strategies. They also reviewed a conceptual framework for linkage facilitation and provided a brief overview of preliminary results from a linkage facilitation checklist used to measure activities across sites, which help identify and categorize key components of effective approaches.

Speakers:

  • Lori Ducharme, Ph.D., Health Scientist Administrator, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) 
  • Chestnut Health Systems Hub
    • Christine Grella, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, Lighthouse Institute, Chestnut Health Systems
    • John Palmer, Linkage Supervisor, Lighthouse Institute, Chestnut Health Systems
    • Dennis Watson, Ph.D.,  Senior Researcher, Lighthouse Institute, Chestnut Health Systems
  • University of Kentucky Hub 
    • Martha Tillson, Ph.D., Research Scientist, University of Kentucky
  • University of Chicago Hub
    • Maggie Kaufmann, Harm Reduction Services Coordinator, University of Illinois Chicago
  • Brown University Hub
    • Lynda Stein, Ph.D, Principal Investigator, The STRIDE Lab, University of Rhode Island
    • Anthony Coetzer-Liversage, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, The STRIDE Lab, University of Rhode Island
    • Machiste Rankin, Peer Support Specialist, Brown University
  • Yale Hub
    • Dorel Clayton, Community Health Worker Trainer, Transitions Clinic Network, University of California San Francisco
  • Yale - HIV Hub
    • Sandra Springer, MD, Director and Principal Investigator, InSTRIDE, Yale School of Medicine
    • Stazja Stuccio, Community Health Worker, InSTRIDE, Yale School of Medicine

Watch the full webinar

View the slides

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