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NEWS FROM CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE

November 15, 2007

Cambridge Health Alliance Offers Innovative New Treatment for Opioid Addiction

Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Revere, Somerville, Winthrop, MA...

Cambridge Health Alliance today introduced the Opioid Addiction and Family Project, a new program designed to help adults addicted to opioids, chemical substances commonly used for pain relief, such as methadone, heroin, or oxycodone. The Project is a study conducted by researchers at Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School to examine if adding family counseling to individual counseling and recovery medication improves treatment outcomes.

Adults seeking help for an opioid addiction may be eligible for the program if they are between 21 and 65 years old and live with a family member. That family member may be a spouse, intimate partner, parent, grandparent, sibling, or adult child. All participants will receive free individual counseling, and half of all participants will also receive free family counseling. The counseling will consist of 24 sessions total over the course of 4-5 months. Additionally, all participants will receive Naltrexone medication. Naltrexone is an opiate blocker approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of opioid dependence which has been shown to improve treatment outcomes. Treatment and counseling sessions will take place at CHA's Central Street Health Center in Somerville, MA.

Mark Albanese, MD, Director of Addiction Services at Cambridge Health Alliance, is excited to offer this program as a treatment option. "Family involvement can be an important part of addictions treatment. This project enhances our capability to provide a range of services for helping our patients," he said.

For more information, please call the Opioid Addiction and Family Project at Cambridge Health Alliance at (617) 591-6055.

Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) is an innovative, award-winning health system that provides high quality care in Cambridge, Somerville, Everett, Malden, Revere, and the surrounding Metro-North communities in Massachusetts. It is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and includes three hospitals, more than 20 primary care practices, the Cambridge Public Health Department, and the Network Health plan. With this unique model, CHA is able to offer the finest health services, a diverse working environment, and a premier training experience for those interested in community-based medicine. For more information: http://www.challiance.org/