FAQs Related to Outreach
Can these best practices be used for non-overdose outreach?
Although the Best Practice Guidance was focused on post-overdose outreach, many of the elements may be relevant to outreach more broadly.
How long are post-overdose response teams providing outreach to people for after the overdose event?
Some programs limit their outreach efforts to one or two encounters, whereas other programs that have experience and capacity providing longitudinal outreach services offer longitudinal outreach to survivors who want it.
What are the benefits of home-based post-overdose outreach vs. hospital-based outreach?
The PRONTO studies have not focused on comparing or contrasting the two approaches. We see them as complementary. Some overdose survivors refuse transport to the hospital, others leave the hospital prior to accessing services, and not all hospitals offer these services. Home-based post-overdose outreach extends the net into the community.
How are survivors identified by post-overdose outreach programs in Massachusetts?
Collection, management and ownership of 911 data varies by community. In Massachusetts, police commonly collect, manage and own. Because the data in the hands of the police is not protected health information and not subject to the same privacy regulations, such as HIPAA, there is more flexibility in sharing overdose survivor data by police. Within Massachusetts, almost every program we have found relies on police 911 call data to identify survivors – one of the reasons that police are involved in many of the local outreach teams.