Optimizing care for opioid use disorder in British Columbia

British Columbia is facing an unprecedented and escalating opioid crisis, underscoring the urgent need for innovative science-driven solutions. There is critical implementation gap of evidence-based care for opioid use disorder (OUD), this research will seek to narrow this gap.

First, Dr. Socias will seek to advance the implementation of evidence-base treatments for OUD, by leading a series of ongoing and planned clinical trials evaluating innovative and promising models of care (e.g. take-home strategies) and alternate treatment options (e.g. slow-release oral morphine).

Second, leveraging vast data from two long-standing cohort studies of over 3,000 people who use drugs, she will apply innovative quality metrics (i.e., cascade of care framework) to evaluate the impacts of addiction health system implementation efforts in BC over time. Identifying individual-, social- and structural-level facilitators and barriers to uptake and effectiveness of novel interventions, as well as to how these new addiction programs may impact health care access and outcomes of OUD care and related comorbidities (e.g. HIV, hepatitis C) will be key to informing efforts to improve the delivery of addiction care in BC.