Medication assisted therapy and recovery homes.

Abstract

There is a need to better understand improved recovery supportive services for those on Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD) and, at the same time, enhance the available treatment interventions and positive long-term outcomes for this vulnerable population. A growing empirical literature supports the assertion that improved access to housing and recovery support is a low-cost, high-potential opportunity that could help former substance users who are utilizing MAT to sustain their recovery. Recovery home support could serve the populations that need them most, namely servicing a significant number of the enrolled in MAT programs. The two largest networks of recovery homes are staff run Traditional Recovery Homes (TRH) and self-run Oxford House Recovery Homes (OH). There is a need to better understand how substance users on MAT respond to recovery homes, as well as how those in recovery homes feel toward those on MAT and how any barriers to those utilizing MAT may be reduced. Recovery may be an outcome of the transactional process between the recovering individual and his/her social environment. In particular, how recovery houses can help people on MAT attain long-term recovery.