Evaluating Emergency Department Peer Recovery Specialists for Linking Adults with Substance Use Disorders to Recovery Services

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are evaluating the effects of an emergency department community health worker-peer recovery specialist program called the Substance Misuse Assistance Response Team SMART on people with substance use disorders. This observational, prospective case-control study aims to understand participant experiences with SMART, evaluate its effectiveness on recovery outcomes and linkage to treatment, and assess program implementation over time. The study focuses on improving recovery service connections for patients after substance use-related emergency visits, a critical time when the risk of death is elevated. The study compares two groups patients who receive SMART services and those who do not. SMART provides personalized support, short-term case management, and navigation to social services, harm reduction, recovery, and addiction treatment both inside and outside the emergency department. Services include assistance with buprenorphine initiation, behavioral counseling, and help accessing housing, transportation, and other social resources. Patients not receiving SMART services receive usual care with referral at the emergency department teams discretion. Participants will complete surveys at enrollment, and again at 3 and 6 months after their initial emergency visit. Researchers will link survey data with state administrative databases to measure outcomes such as addiction treatment engagement, recovery capital, social services use, acute care visits, repeat hospitalizations and overdoses, mortality, employment changes, and criminal justice encounters. The study will provide important information about how SMART impacts patient outcomes and program delivery, with follow-up through October 2026.

Emergency Medicine Peer Outreach Worker Engagement for Recovery