Multisite Mobile Addiction Services: Four-Year Outcomes

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Addiction Medicine
• Mobile Health Interventions

Background:

• The Community Care in Reach (CCIR) model utilizes mobile clinics to address critical gaps in care for vulnerable populations.
• High-risk individuals, including those experiencing homelessness, often face barriers to accessing traditional addiction and harm reduction services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a descriptive evaluation of the multisite Community Care in Reach mobile addiction model.
• To assess the reach and performance of harm reduction and clinical services delivered via mobile clinics.

Main Methods:

• Employed the RE-AIM framework for evaluation.
• Utilized a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data collection.
• Data collected from January 2022 to June 2024 across six Massachusetts programs.

Main Results:

• Provided 17,887 harm reduction encounters and 16,117 clinical encounters to 4,645 individuals.
• Initiated buprenorphine-based treatment for 1,227 individuals, with 15% retention at 180 days.
• Successfully engaged hard-to-reach individuals despite organizational challenges.

Conclusions:

• The CCIR mobile addiction model demonstrates significant reach and engagement with high-risk, underserved populations.
• Mobile clinics are an effective strategy for delivering essential harm reduction and clinical services to individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
• The program's public/private partnership model has facilitated its growth and impact across multiple sites.