Oregon HOPE

The Oregon HOPE study (2017 - 2023) is led by Oregon Health & Science University in partnership with Oregon Health Authority (OHA), Comagine Health, HIV Alliance, and Bay Area First Step. The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse as part of the Rural Opioid Initiative research consortium funded in eight geographically diverse regions across the U.S.: https://ruralopioidinitiative.org/

Oregon HOPE included development of a rural peer-based intervention based on needs assessment data, in-depth surveys and interviews with people who use drugs, and analysis of epidemiological data. Peers engage people who use drugs through community outreach and syringe services and provide hepatitis C/HIV testing, harm reduction tools, and linkage to substance use disorder and hepatitis C treatment. The intervention was adapted and expanded by OHA as the PRIME+ peer program. In 2020, the Oregon HOPE team developed and conducted a randomized controlled trial of an innovative peer-facilitated telemedicine hepatitis C treatment. The model is expanding statewide as PATHS (Peer-Assisted Telemedicine for Hepatitis C/HIV and Syphilis).