The Youth Advocacy and Research Collaborative focuses on improving the mental health and wellbeing of young people by addressing substance use, providing overdose prevention education, actively involving community partners, and supporting youth and their families.  

Our main areas of work include:

  • Youth mental health and wellbeing
  • Youth substance use
  • Overdose prevention
  • Community engagement and education
  • Supporting youth and their families
  • Advocacy for legislation that supports overall youth health and wellbeing

 

Our Team

How to Access Naloxone  

Naloxone (Narcan) rescue kits are available at many pharmacies and stores across Massachusetts, such as CVS, clinics, primary care, health centers, etc. Many pharmacies and stores may have naloxone on shelves or at the front counter, meaning you do not have to talk to a pharmacist.

It is available with or without a prescription, but a prescription from your doctor is NOT needed. The Department of Public Health (DPH) has issued a statewide standing order that allows anyone to request and receive a naloxone rescue kit. In addition, Narcan™ brand naloxone became an over-the-counter (OTC) product in 2023.

Learn more at the Department of Public Health website

Current Projects

Objective: To develop an effective universal overdose prevention intervention (that can be used in clinical settings) for youth to better understand drug risks, reduce risks, and learn how to respond to an overdose.

Summary: We aim to gather a community advisory board of important stakeholders that will help design and inform a pilot intervention that would provide overdose prevention education to youth in a clinical setting.

We then plan to conduct a pilot randomized control trial (RCT) to evaluate acceptability and feasibility of the intervention that the CAB helped design and complete a larger RCT after the pilot study.

Updates: Currently in the process of developing the pilot intervention and submitting our application to ClinicalTrials.gov

Funding: National Institute on Drug Abuse - National Institutes of Health (R61DA062217) 

Objective: Create effective overdose prevention educational materials for youth

Summary: Through focus group and photovoice meetings with youth in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, we aim to better understand how they perceive overdose risks and drug supply safety. We also plan to interview adult stakeholders to understand their perspectives regarding overdose risk among young people.

The information collected will be used to collaboratively update educational materials and interventions for youth.

Updates: Beginning recruitment for focus groups and interviews

Funding: National Institute on Drug Abuse - National Institutes of Health (R21DA062256) 

Objective: To create effective peer lead overdose prevention educational materials for youth.

Summary: Through 10 advisory group meetings, students from the John D. O’Bryant School will create overdose prevention educational materials that can be used with their peers. Students will also create a tool that others can use to evaluate the educational materials they have created.

Updates: Currently meeting with students to begin developing materials

Funding: Boston University School of Public Health  

Past Projects

Objective: Build capacity among youth, families, and providers to conduct PCOR (patient-centered outcomes research) and CER (comparative effectiveness research) that addresses youth overdose.

Summary: Our six-member youth community advisory board (CAB) of youth and a parent/youth advocate in MA (ages 19 -24) had 13 monthly meetings to help develop guiding research questions and agendas for future research on overdose prevention and education.  

Themes that emerged include risk factors for youth overdose and youth-focused overdose interventions: components, settings, and outcomes. This group helped to inspire and develop the content on this website.

Funding: Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award (EACB-26846) 

Objective: Identify current youth overdose prevention interventions in the U.S to guide public health efforts to create effective overdose education for youth

Summary: Our team completed a scoping using the adapted PRISMA Checklist for Scoping Reviews to guide our review and structure

Our search of Searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science for peer-reviewed descriptions of youth overdose prevention education interventions from 2010-2023 in the U.S. found 16 unique programs that fit our inclusion criteria, including nine from peer-reviewed literature and seven from gray literature (news articles, reports, blogs, conference papers, etc.).

This led to the conclusion that there is a gap in overdose prevention education for youth.

Funding: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through BU-CTSI Grant Number 1UL1TR001430

Objective: To explore attitudes and beliefs of school-based health center staff members in delivering overdose prevention education and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in school-based health centers (SBHCs) in MA.

Summary: We recruited 13 SBHC staff that identified as medical or behavioral health providers from a two-day youth focused substance use training program. Participants completed two rounds of interviews that covered topics related to examining opioid overdose prevention, OUD treatment, and harm reduction methodologies

Themes from both rounds of interviews were examined with the goal of using this data to inform interventions and implementation at SBHC sites.

Updates: Currently in the process publishing the manuscript with a journal 

Funding: NIDA grant, R25DA033211 and the Becca Schmill Foundation

We offer the following types of training to the community:

  • Overdose prevention training for youth and adults that includes an overview of overdose risks, overdose recognition, and how to respond
  • Naloxone/Narcan training  

We have currently completed trainings with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lawrence and Marlborough, Concord public school, Newton public schools, and the John D. O’Bryant School in Roxbury.

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