Scott Walters, PhD, is the steering committee chair of the HEALing Communities Study, which stands for Helping to End Addiction Long-term. This program was launched in 2019 as a partnership between the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and aims to reduce opioid overdose deaths by 40% through testing ways to make it easier for communities to use evidence-based practices to prevent opioid misuse, addiction, and overdose in healthcare, justice, and behavioral health settings. [Photo: UNTHSC]
"We don’t have years to wait—it’s important that the data and recommendations are delivered as quickly as possible, in ways people can understand and apply," says Dr. Scott Walters, who served as steering committee chair of the 67-community HEALing Communities Study.
A center at the University of North Texas Health Science Center will share findings to communities most affected by the worsening opioid crisis. “We already know quite a bit about best practices,” Walters notes.