Data2Action Oregon Project: Supporting Data-driven Decision-Making for Substance Use Services, Policy, and Overdose Prevention

PROJECT SUMMARY Cross-sector decision makers-such as community service providers, public health, justice, advocates, and payers-are calling for actionable data to be collected and shared in sustainable, useful ways. In 2022 national survey data, Oregon ranked last in the U.S. for access to substance use services and first in opioid and methamphetamine use. A recent state- wide analysis estimated that service gaps may even be larger than previously estimated. This study aims to make data that are relevant to decision makers available to them in easy-to-use formats so that they can make timely, evidence-informed decisions to reduce substance use service gaps and overdoses, and ultimately improve Oregonian's health. Major, innovative policy decisions about substance use are being in made in Oregon right now. This policy context is accounted for in study design, activities, and analyses. One is a first-of-its-kind policy in the United States-Ballot Measure 110 (M110). M110 is bringing unprecedented levels of funding to expand services aligned with the pillars of overdose prevention statewide, and it decriminalized the possession of personal amounts of substances. More recently, HB 4002 re-criminalized simple possession and set aside funding for counties to establish criminal legal system deflection programs. Both critics and advocates of M110 and HB 4002 have called for better data to provide a holistic picture of substance use service and service- recipient impacts, and to inform looming decisions such as how to allocate opioid settlement funds. To meet this need, consistent with goals of the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term Data2Action Program call for Innovation Projects with cross-sector partnerships, the investigators will develop, refine, and test a policy implementation strategy-Co-Design Sessions (CDS)-to engage cross-sector decision makers in conversations about what data are of priority to them and to develop feasible protocols for linking and disseminating data through products that they co-design (e.g., reports, simulations, dashboards). In the current project phase, which includes the clinical trial, counties will be cluster randomized to participate in CDS and receive fully tailored data products (N = 18) or to later receive products only (N = 18) in a stepped-wedge design. The investigators will: (Aim 1) identify whether CDS is an efficient, generalizable strategy to optimize policy implementation based on the comparative usability of CDS-generated data products between counties; (Aim 2) test the impact of CDS on substance use service gaps and service-recipient outcomes, as well as cross-sector collaboration and trust in data as potential mechanisms of CDS; and (Aim 3) examine whether CDS-generated data products are associated with concrete actions (e.g., funding) to strengthen the availability and quality of evidence-based, culturally-responsive substance use services. Based on study results and partners' input, the investigators will provide state decision makers with recommendations and protocols for supporting sustainment of study infrastructure and output, including: feasible methods for prioritized data collection and data product dissemination, and the transfer of study-generated data to state-wide data infrastructures. The study holds strong potential for immediate, real-world impact.