Carroll receives grant to evaluate novel opioid harm-reduction strategies

Jennifer J. Carroll, assistant professor of anthropology, has received an award to evaluate novel harm-reduction programs in Massachussetts.

Jennifer J. Carroll, assistant professor of anthropology, has received an award from RIZE Massachusetts, a private foundation supporting evidence-based responses to the opioid epidemic, for the evaluation of novel harm-reduction efforts to reduce overdose and other opioid-related harms across the state of Massachusetts. 

Carroll will be partnering with long-time collaborators Traci C. Green from Boston Medical Center and Michelle McKenzie from Brown University and the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights to complete a rigorous two-year evaluation of six community-based programs funded by RIZE Massachusetts' recent harm-reduction and linkage to care enhancement initiative. 

According to RIZE, "The goals of the grant awards [to these 6 community organizations] are to expand existing harm-reduction services with novel interventions, such as fentanyl test strips or other drug-checking measures and develop immediate access to low-threshold addiction treatment through clinical partnerships." Those funded organizations are:
• AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod

• Fenway Health
• Greater Lawrence Family Health Center
• HRH413
• Kraft Center Mobile Health Initiative
• Life Connection Center

More about this harm reduction initiative can be found at https://rizema.org/news/ under the heading "RIZE MASSACHUSETTS AWARDS NEARLY $1 MILLION IN GRANTS TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS TO ENHANCE OPIOID HARM-REDUCTION SERVICES AND LINK WITH CLINICAL CARE."