# Kentucky Communities and Researchers Engaging to Halt the Opioid Epidemic (CARE2HOPE)

> **NIH NIH UH3** · UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY · 2022 · $148,213

## Abstract

Abstract: The proposed project will build evidence-based, community-rooted public health responses to the
epidemics of non-medical prescription opioid (NMPO) and heroin injecting, overdoses (ODs), and HCV, and to
imminent HIV outbreaks, in 12 rural Appalachian Kentucky counties at the epicenter of these intertwined
national crises. 10 of these 12 counties rank in the top 5% for HIV/HCV vulnerability. Rates of HCV, injection
drug use (IDU), and ODs are high in these counties, and most are in coal country, an RFA priority.
 Unfortunately, these counties exemplify an extreme version of the “implementation chasm,” a chasm
dividing scientific knowledge from action. Evidence-based public health responses to these epidemics exist
(e.g., syringe service programs [SSPs]) and are often deployed in cities. In these 12 rural counties, though,
scarcities of resources and of providers conspire with drug-related stigma to constrain public health responses.
The counties’ public health infrastructures are weak, their harm reduction infrastructures virtually non-existent.
 This project will bridge the implementation chasm in these 12 counties, and recognizes that bridging this
chasm requires more than simply importing SSPs and other evidence-based community response projects
(EB-CRPs) from cities. Guided by harm reduction principles, the Risk Environment Model, and Community/
Academic Partnerships (CAPs), in the UG3 we will: (1) Assess and enhance each county’s readiness to
improve the local risk environment. (2) Examine the strengths, resources, needs, and gaps of each county’s
risk environment. We will conduct a multi-method Community Assessment of the Risk Environment that
integrates innovative, rigorous epidemiology (e.g., modeling); policy assessment; and best practices in
community-based research (e.g., CAPs). (3) Select an EB-CRP that responds to local needs and strengths,
using elements of Intervention Mapping. Go/no go milestone: Each CAP will have created an EB-CRP
package that (1) addresses targets common across all counties (e.g., opioid injection, OD, HCV, HIV), and (2)
is tailored to local needs, resources, and readiness. In the UH3, we will: (4) Tailor selected EB-CRP to each
county’s context using ADAPT-ITT. (5) Analyze the effectiveness and cost of each county’s EB-CRP package,
using an innovative community randomized trial. We will use continuous quality improvement to enhance each
EB-CRP’s fidelity, reach, immediate effects, and outcomes. To inform interventions, advanced network
analyses will overlay risk networks with GHOST phylogenetic transmission data to show where HCV has been
and predict where it is going. We draw strength from our collaborations. CAPs will meld residents’ local
knowledge with researchers’ scientific expertise. Multi-PIs Young and Cooper have assembled an academic
team with unsurpassed expertise in key substance, theories, and methods, and in multisite studies. The
combination of a rigorous, innovative design, strong theo...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10644787
- **Project number:** 3UH3DA044798-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
- **Principal Investigator:** Hannah LF Cooper
- **Activity code:** UH3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $148,213
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-08-15 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10644787

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10644787, Kentucky Communities and Researchers Engaging to Halt the Opioid Epidemic (CARE2HOPE) (3UH3DA044798-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10644787. Licensed CC0.

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