# A Patient Engagement Resource Center using Community-Based Participatory Action Research to Support Parents with Substance Use Disorders

> **NIH NIH R24** · UNIVERSITY OF OREGON · 2024 · $467,805

## Abstract

7. Project Summary
Most people with substance use disorders (SUD) are parents (i.e., pregnant, postpartum, parenting). However,
parents with SUD receive little focused attention as it pertains to treatment services tailored to their needs as a
parent. Becoming a parent is lifechanging regardless of the outcome of a pregnancy or birth; it can facilitate
positive change and potential for hardships and challenges. These experiences impact the perceptions of
treatment utility, treatment engagement, and treatment success. Parent-centric research can identify barriers
and solutions to promote treatment acceptability, accessibility, and recovery. However, most research to date
on parents with SUD has been child-focused, emphasizing the goal of improving parenting practices. This
research is important, but leaves missed opportunities to consider the unique challenges and opportunities
associated with the parenting role. Research and practice are steeped with the narratives of parental unfitness
and cause significant harm to parents with SUD by deterring individuals from seeking treatment. Specifically,
parents with SUD may be deterred from treatment because of childcare constraints, fear of child removal, and
safety concerns in clinics. They may also face discrimination in treatment if they used substances during
pregnancy, experienced pregnancy and infant loss, or child removal. Self-stigma and discrimination of parents
with SUD can be addressed through translational research prioritizing parent-defined solutions to improve
outcomes for this uniquely disenfranchised population. Our team is particularly poised to complete this work.
We have built a dedicated infrastructure through the NIDA P50 Center on Parenting and Opioids Data
Collective and community boards. We intend to leverage these resources to establish a Patient Engagement
Resource Center (PERC) for parents with SUD. Our PERC will be a national resource with the goal of
addressing disparities in treatment engagement for parents with SUD. We will achieve this goal through our
specific aims. Aim 1 is to establish a lived expertise advisory panel (LEAP) of parents with SUD (n = 18)
which will support capacity building and mutual decision making among individuals most impacted by our
research. Aim 2 includes Aim 2a: conduct a mixed-methods research project (N = 190 quantitative, 40
qualitative) that will identify modifiable barriers and potential solutions to SUD treatment engagement and
success, as moderated by social determinants of health and parenting circumstances and Aim 2b: solicit
applications from external teams to address pilot project ideas generated by LEAP. Finally, Aim 3 is to
support national engagement with our parent SUD-focused PERC by leveraging and expanding our
existing Center infrastructure to support national research focused on studies to improve treatment outcomes
for parents with SUD. Our PERC will lay a path for transformative research to improve treatment acceptability,
...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10978984
- **Project number:** 1R24DA061209-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
- **Principal Investigator:** Camille C Cioffi
- **Activity code:** R24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $467,805
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-07-01 → 2029-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10978984

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10978984, A Patient Engagement Resource Center using Community-Based Participatory Action Research to Support Parents with Substance Use Disorders (1R24DA061209-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10978984. Licensed CC0.

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