Opioid Use Treatment for Youth — The Improving Treatment Together Project
The Improving Treatment Together (ITT) project works directly with families, youth and service providers to improve opioid treatment for youth. The goal is to collaboratively identify needs and then co-design solutions for youth-centered opioid use treatment services.
Given the current state of the opioid crisis in Canada, there is a clear need for treatment services that youth who have opioid use disorder can access. Established treatments were created for adults. Treatments for youth opioid use should respond to the specific needs of youth.
Our approach is to work directly with youth, families and service providers. By collaborating with these groups from the very start of the project, we can understand the different needs of each group. This strategic approach provides a greater impact when creating person-centered products and tools that will improve opioid treatment for youth.
The purpose of this four-year project is to improve treatment outcomes for youth ages 12-24 who are accessing services for opioid use, by developing evidence-based health services interventions tailored to the needs of those youth and the people who support them and provide treatment. The project will seek to contribute to the emerging evidence-based resources and tools to guide treatment of youth opioid use disorder. These include:
- Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder for Youth – Guideline Supplement (http://www.bccsu.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/OUD-Youth.pdf)