HEALing Communities Study
Key facts
- Who runs it
- RTI International
- Where
- Boston, Columbus, Lexington, and New York, United StatesSee the 4 sites
- Trial code
- Status
- Completed
- People taking part
- 67 people enrolled
- Started
- 23 Oct 2019
- Ended
- 30 Sept 2025
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groups
- Treatments tested
- Communities That HEAL
- Wait-list control
- Record updated
- 4 August 2026
Who can take part
- Sex
- Women and men
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 6 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- The community must be located in one of the four participating states: Kentucky, Ohio, Massachusetts, or New York
- At least 30% of the communities selected within each state must be rural
- Across all the HCS communities within each state, there must be a minimum of 150 opioid-related overdose fatalities (with at least 22 opioid-related overdose fatalities experienced by the rural communities) and a rate of at least 25 opioid-related overdose fatalities per 100,000 persons, based on 2016 data
- The community must express willingness to address in their response strategy the implementation of MOUD, overdose prevention training, and naloxone distribution across their community
- The community must express willingness to develop partnerships across health care, behavioral health, and justice settings for evidence-based practices to address opioid misuse, OUD, and overdoses
Who cannot take part
- Communities that did not meet the aforementioned inclusion criteria were excluded from the HCS
Where in United States
- Boston Medical CenterBoston, United States
- Ohio State UniversityColumbus, United States
- University of KentuckyLexington, United States
- Columbia UniversityNew York, United States
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
This study will test the impact of implementing the Communities That Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) intervention on opioid overdose deaths within 67 highly affected communities with the goal of reducing opioid overdose deaths by 40%.
The 2 groups in the trial
- Wave 1 - InterventionTreatment being tested
Communities in Wave 1 will receive the CTH intervention during the first 30 months of the trial. The intervention will include 3 components: community engagement to assist key stakeholders in applying evidence-based practices to addressing their opioid crisis, a menu of evidence-based practices for communities to select and implement, and a communications campaign to build demand for evidence-based practices to address overdose and opioid use disorder.
Treatment: Communities That HEAL
- Wave 2 - Wait-list comparisonOther group
Communities in Wave 2 will continue usual care during the first 30 months of the trial. At month 31, Wave 2 communities will begin receiving the CTH intervention.
Treatment: Wait-list control
Data and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- HEALing Communities Study: Developing and Testing an Integrated Approach to Address the Opioid Crisis
- Record updated
- 4 August 2026