Using Peer Recovery Coach Training and AI Texting to Reduce Racial Disparities in Opioid Overdose Deaths A Study to Improve Access to Opioid Treatment and Social Services in Black and Latinx Adults

What this Trial Is About

This research aims to address racial disparities in opioid overdose deaths by adapting a Cultural Structural Humility CSH training into an interactive video format for peer recovery coaches PRCs and refining an AI-driven texting tool. The study focuses on supporting people with opioid use disorder OUD from Black and Latinx communities to improve access to medication for opioid use disorder MOUD and social services. It is a randomized interventional trial designed to test feasibility and effectiveness for future larger studies. Participants will be assigned to one of three groups one receiving PRC-supported text check-ins plus AI-driven culturally and structurally informed messaging, another receiving only the AI-driven messaging, and a control group receiving usual treatment with verbal instructions and pamphlets. The PRC-supported texts will be personalized based on participants needs and challenges identified during intake and training. The AI-driven texts aim to reinforce key training principles related to social and structural health factors. During the study, researchers will monitor participant contact rates with PRCs, use of AI texting, stigma changes, time to start buprenorphine treatment, and social service use, all measured over three months. They will also assess the costs of running the intervention and participant retention in treatment. The study involves telephone-based care coordination and text messaging with follow-up at regular intervals to evaluate the interventions impact and gather data to inform future trials.

Addressing Racial Disparities in Opioid Overdose Using Peer Recovery Coach Training and mHealth Platform