Economic Evaluation Design within the HEAL Prevention Cooperative

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Addiction Science
• Health Economics

Background:

• Opioid misuse, disorder, and deaths are rising among young adults, necessitating effective prevention strategies.
• Preventive interventions for at-risk youth are currently limited.
• The National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative to address this crisis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate effective prevention interventions for opioid misuse in older adolescents and young adults.
• To conduct an integrated economic evaluation of these prevention interventions across various settings.
• To provide data on costs, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability of prevention programs.

Main Methods:

• Ten research projects funded under the HEAL Prevention Cooperative (HPC).
• Nine projects include economic evaluations using prospective, activity-based costing.
• Data collection on start-up and ongoing delivery costs, cost-effectiveness, and budget impact modeling.

Main Results:

• The HPC aims to generate economic evidence for substance use prevention.
• Data will inform policymakers and providers about necessary investments and intervention value.
• The study will assess the cost-effectiveness of interventions in reducing opioid misuse initiation and escalation.

Conclusions:

• The HPC provides a unique opportunity to generate crucial economic evidence for opioid misuse prevention.
• Findings will guide resource allocation for effective prevention programs.
• Demonstrating the value of prevention is key to combating the opioid crisis.