Offering Buprenorphine in Homeless Shelters in Massachusetts Projects Life- and Cost-saving Results

The Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, HCV, and HIV (CHERISH) is a research hub that is committed to improving substance use disorder treatment, policies, and care for people who use drugs. CHERISH is connected to more than 100 affiliated researchers across the U.S. To disseminate newly published work to researchers and policymakers, I share key findings through concise and informative research summaries and write profile series to amplify the experts in our network.

Members of the research team, including first author Avik Chatterjee (far left). Co-authors of the study include CHERISH Research Affiliates Sabrina Assoumou and Stavroula Chrysanthopoulou, and CHERISH investigators Benjamin Linas (far right) and Bruce Schackman. Photo credit: Caroline Savitsky and HealthCity.

Overdose is the leading cause of death among people with opioid use disorder (OUD) who are experiencing homelessness.

Innovative care models that meet this population outside of office-based settings can improve access to buprenorphine, a medication for treating OUD, and avert fatal overdoses. In this study, Avik Chatterjee, lead author and addiction specialist at Boston Medical Center, and colleagues used a simulation model to project the long-term health outcomes and healthcare costs of expanding buprenorphine to 100 homeless shelters in Massachusetts

Expanding shelter-based buprenorphine access in Massachusetts could be an opportunity to address overdoses among a historically marginalized population.

Avik Chatterjee

Read the full story at the Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, HCV, and HIV (CHERISH), published on December 31, 2024.