America's drug overdose epidemic touches every community
America continues to face a drug overdose epidemic driven largely by opioids like fentanyl and heroin. More than 250,000 Americans have died from a fentanyl overdose since 2018.
The RESTORE Mission
The rate of increase in deaths from opioid overdose among Black Americans now exceeds the rate of increase for White Americans, and yet Black Americans are less likely to receive evidence-based treatment (i.e., medications for opioid use disorder, the gold standard treatment) than White Americans.
Following the science and data, and guided by community engagement principles, our mission is to remove the barriers that Black Americans experience getting access to or staying connected to lifesaving medications for opioid use disorder.
We are building pathways to evidence-based addiction treatment and care that respect culture, community health, and recovery support.
What is RESTORE?
America's drug overdose epidemic is a complex public health problem that requires innovative solutions. California is at the epicenter of the epidemic. RESTORE is a community-engaged research study focused on improving treatment and retention in care for Black Californians who use opioids.
RESTORE aims to:
Engage
Engage Californians affected by opioid use, primary care providers, and community partners in substance use research
Develop
Develop, implement, and evaluate a culturally and clinically responsive evidence-based opioid use disorder intervention in community health clinics
Empower
Empower primary care providers to be Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Champions in community health clinics
Increase
Increase the public's knowledge about the racial gaps in America's drug overdose epidemic
Disseminate
Disseminate collaborative research that informs substance use disorder treatment policy and compassionate care
Our Team
Our team is made up of a diverse group of medical sociologists, clinical psychologists, biostatisticians, survey researchers, physicians, faith-based leaders, community health workers, and public health students. Our areas of expertise include addiction medicine, community-engaged research, and implementation science.
Funding Agency
