HEALing Communities Study: Data measures for supporting a community-based intervention to reduce opioid overdose deaths

Svetla Slavova¹, Jennifer Villani², Daniel J Feaster³, Austin Booth⁴, JaNae L Holloway⁵, Peter J Rock⁶, Lindsey R Hammerslag⁷, Aimee Mack⁸, Charles E Knott⁹, John V McCarthy¹⁰, Jeffery Talbert¹¹, Marc R LaRochelle¹², Bridget Freisthler¹³, Brent J Gibbons¹⁴, Gregory Patts¹⁵, Matthew J Bullard¹⁶, Sharon L Walsh¹⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biostatistics, University of Kentucky, Healthy Kentucky Research Building, Suite 260, 760 Press Avenue, Lexington, KY 40536, USA. Electronic address: ssslav2@email.uky.edu.
² National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 3WFN, MSC 6025, 301 North Stonestreet Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. Electronic address: jennifer.villani@nih.gov.
³ Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1425 NW 10th Avenue, Room 1059, Miami, FL 33136, USA. Electronic address: dfeaster@med.miami.edu.
⁴ Social, Statistical and Environment Sciences, Health Practice Area, RTI International, 6110 Executive Blvd, Suite 900, Rockville, MD 20852, USA. Electronic address: abooth@rti.org.
⁵ Center for Clinical Research, Analytics Practice Area, RTI International, 3040 E Cornwallis Rd, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. Electronic address: jlholloway@rti.org.
⁶ Institute for Biomedical Informatics, University of Kentucky, Healthy Kentucky Research Building, Suite 260, 760 Press Avenue, Lexington, KY 40536, USA. Electronic address: peter.rock@uky.edu.
⁷ Division for Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Healthy Kentucky Research Building, Suite 260, 760 Press Avenue, Lexington, KY 40536, USA. Electronic address: l.hammerslag@uky.edu.
⁸ The Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 150 Pressey Hall, 1070 Carmack Road, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: Aimee.mack@osumc.edu.
⁹ Social, Statistical and Environment Sciences, Data Practice Area, RTI International, 3040 E. Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. Electronic address: cknott@rti.org.
¹⁰ Social, Statistical and Environment Sciences, Analytics Practice Area, RTI International, 3040 E. Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. Electronic address: jmccarthy@rti.org.
¹¹ Division of Biomedical Informatics, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 267 Healthy Kentucky Research Building, 760 Press Avenue, Lexington, KY 40536, USA. Electronic address: jeff.talbert@uky.edu.
¹² Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit, Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, 801 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02118, USA. Electronic address: marc.larochelle@bmc.org.
¹³ Ohio State University College of Social Work, 1947 N. College Road, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: freisthler.19@osu.edu.
¹⁴ Social, Statistical and Environment Sciences, Health Practice Area, RTI International, 3040 E. Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. Electronic address: bgibbons@rti.org.
¹⁵ Center for Health Data Science (CHDS), Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St, Boston, MA 02118, USA. Electronic address: gpatts@bu.edu.
¹⁶ Center for Health Data Science (CHDS), Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St, Boston, MA 02118, USA. Electronic address: mbullard@bu.edu.
¹⁷ Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky, 109 Medical Behavioral Science Building, Lexington, KY 40536, USA; Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, University of Kentucky, College of Medicine, 845 Angliana Avenue, Lexington, KY 40508, USA. Electronic address: sharon.walsh@uky.edu.

PMID: 40482517
PMCID: PMC12238825 (available on 2026-06-02)
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112738

HEALing Communities Study: Data measures for supporting a community-based intervention to reduce opioid overdose deaths

Svetla Slavova et al. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2025.

. 2025 Sep 1:274:112738.

doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112738. Epub 2025 Jun 2.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biostatistics, University of Kentucky, Healthy Kentucky Research Building, Suite 260, 760 Press Avenue, Lexington, KY 40536, USA. Electronic address: ssslav2@email.uky.edu.
² National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 3WFN, MSC 6025, 301 North Stonestreet Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. Electronic address: jennifer.villani@nih.gov.
³ Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1425 NW 10th Avenue, Room 1059, Miami, FL 33136, USA. Electronic address: dfeaster@med.miami.edu.
⁴ Social, Statistical and Environment Sciences, Health Practice Area, RTI International, 6110 Executive Blvd, Suite 900, Rockville, MD 20852, USA. Electronic address: abooth@rti.org.
⁵ Center for Clinical Research, Analytics Practice Area, RTI International, 3040 E Cornwallis Rd, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. Electronic address: jlholloway@rti.org.
⁶ Institute for Biomedical Informatics, University of Kentucky, Healthy Kentucky Research Building, Suite 260, 760 Press Avenue, Lexington, KY 40536, USA. Electronic address: peter.rock@uky.edu.
⁷ Division for Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Healthy Kentucky Research Building, Suite 260, 760 Press Avenue, Lexington, KY 40536, USA. Electronic address: l.hammerslag@uky.edu.
⁸ The Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 150 Pressey Hall, 1070 Carmack Road, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: Aimee.mack@osumc.edu.
⁹ Social, Statistical and Environment Sciences, Data Practice Area, RTI International, 3040 E. Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. Electronic address: cknott@rti.org.
¹⁰ Social, Statistical and Environment Sciences, Analytics Practice Area, RTI International, 3040 E. Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. Electronic address: jmccarthy@rti.org.
¹¹ Division of Biomedical Informatics, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 267 Healthy Kentucky Research Building, 760 Press Avenue, Lexington, KY 40536, USA. Electronic address: jeff.talbert@uky.edu.
¹² Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit, Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, 801 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02118, USA. Electronic address: marc.larochelle@bmc.org.
¹³ Ohio State University College of Social Work, 1947 N. College Road, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: freisthler.19@osu.edu.
¹⁴ Social, Statistical and Environment Sciences, Health Practice Area, RTI International, 3040 E. Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. Electronic address: bgibbons@rti.org.
¹⁵ Center for Health Data Science (CHDS), Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St, Boston, MA 02118, USA. Electronic address: gpatts@bu.edu.
¹⁶ Center for Health Data Science (CHDS), Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St, Boston, MA 02118, USA. Electronic address: mbullard@bu.edu.
¹⁷ Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky, 109 Medical Behavioral Science Building, Lexington, KY 40536, USA; Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, University of Kentucky, College of Medicine, 845 Angliana Avenue, Lexington, KY 40508, USA. Electronic address: sharon.walsh@uky.edu.

PMID: 40482517
PMCID: PMC12238825 (available on 2026-06-02)
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112738

Abstract

Introduction: The HEALing Communities Study (HCS) tested a community-based intervention in 67 communities across Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio to reduce opioid overdose deaths. This paper introduces the HCS measures for monitoring the intervention uptake, reports crude rates for benchmarking, and highlights the importance of interpreting jurisdictional trends in the context of state policies.

Methods: We present technical specifications for the HCS measures and the common data model. Crude rates for the evaluation period (July 2021- June 2022) are reported by state and study arm (intervention/Wave 1 or wait-listed/Wave 2 communities), along with longitudinal trends from 2017 to 2023. Year 2023 serves as a post-intervention period for Wave 1 communities and an intervention year for Wave 2 communities.

Results: After unprecedented increases in 2020-2021, the HCS crude opioid overdose death rates declined in 2023, but remained higher than the 2019 pre-pandemic rates. Opioid overdose death rates exceeded 100/100,000 adults among Non-Hispanic Black individuals in several states. In response to the rapid increase in opioid overdose deaths in Kentucky, the HCS team expanded the naloxone distribution in Kentucky intervention communities, reaching a 10-fold increase in Quarter 3 of 2021 (1498.2 units/100,000 residents). The methadone medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) treatment rate for Medicaid enrollees with opioid use disorder during the evaluation period was highest in Massachusetts intervention communities (274/1000), while the buprenorphine MOUD treatment rate was highest in Kentucky (441/1000).

Conclusions: The HCS measures support comprehensive planning and evaluation of population-level opioid overdose prevention interventions and policies.

Keywords: Buprenorphine; HEALing Communities Study (HCS); Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD); Methadone; Naloxone; Opioid overdose.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors report no competing interests.

References

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HEALing Communities Study: Data measures for supporting a community-based intervention to reduce opioid overdose deaths

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HEALing Communities Study: Data measures for supporting a community-based intervention to reduce opioid overdose deaths

Authors

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Conflict of interest statement

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