Permanent Supportive Housing Overdose Prevention

Permanent supportive housing (PSH), the gold standard intervention for ending chronic homelessness, has expanded rapidly across the U.S. in recent years. Due to a confluence of individual and environmental risk factors, PSH tenants face heightened risk for overdose. While evidence-based practices to prevent overdose exist, they have not been broadly implemented in PSH settings. This study will address this research to practice gap by studying the implementation of evidence-based practices to prevent overdose in 20 PSH buildings in New York. In a community-partnered stepped wedge randomized controlled trial, the investigators will study a package of implementation strategies that includes an implementation toolkit, tenant and staff implementation champions, limited practice facilitation, and learning collaboratives. Outcomes will be examined using surveys and qualitative interviews with PSH tenants and staff; observation; and analysis of Medicaid claims data.

This single-center study is a hybrid type 3 trial with a stepped wedge cluster randomized controlled trial design, with primary objectives of studying implementation of overdose prevention practices in PSH and secondary objectives of examining effectiveness on clinically relevant outcomes and multilevel factors influencing implementation. Twenty participating PSH building sites will be randomized into four intervention clusters of five buildings each. With the stepped wedge design, all clusters of study PSH buildings will begin in the control condition. Clusters are randomly assigned to receive the intervention at different times, with all eventually receiving the six-month implementation strategy package intervention from Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH). Study investigators will survey PSH building tenants and staff; conduct observation of building policies and procedures; analyze tenant Medicaid data; and interview staff and tenants.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

Tenant surveys: To be eligible to participate in the tenant survey part of this study, an individual must:

* Be a supportive housing tenant in a participating building
* Be at least 18 years old
* Be able to read and respond to a survey in English or Spanish

Staff surveys: To be eligible to participate in the staff survey part of this study, an individual must work for a participating PSH building (or have worked for one in the past 6 months). All PSH building staff are at least 18 years old and are able to read and respond to a survey in English. Staff surveys will begin with a question confirming eligibility.

Qualitative interviews: To be eligible to participate in the qualitative interview part of this study, an individual must:

* Work for or live in a participating PSH building
* Serve as staff (including leaders) or tenant implementation champion
* Be at least 18 years old
* Speak and understand English

Medicaid data analysis: Identifying information for all tenants in participating buildings (to be provided to the study team by buildings as described in a bilaterally signed information sharing agreement) will be used to conduct a match with Medicaid administrative data.

Exclusion Criteria:

Children under the age of 18 years old will be excluded, including from the Medicaid data analysis.