Recruiting

Peer HR Support

Sponsor:

University of Illinois at Chicago

Code:

NCT06823453

Conditions

Opioid Overdose Prevention

People Who Use Opioids/People With Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)

Reduction of Substance Use-related Stigma

Non-substance-using People With a Friend or Family Member Who Uses Opioids

Peer Harm Reduction Support Champions

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Peer Harm Reduction Support Champion Intervention

Study Details

Brief summary:

Fatal opioid overdoses are more frequent among populations with low access to harm reduction (HR) services and with high substance use-related stigma (which is a major barrier to accessing HR services). One such population is older adults who use drugs (PWUD) on the West side of Chicago. Over 34% of Chicago's opioid-related EMS responses in 2023 were located in communities on the West side, but older adults in these communities access HR services at low rates, likely due to stigma and other barriers. To help address these barriers and increase HR service access among this population, the proposed clinical trial will evaluate a novel intervention that will recruit non-substance-using friends and family members of people who use opioids and live on the West side of Chicago, educate them on HR tools and services, and train them to become peer HR support champions. They will be asked to recruit one friend or family member who uses opioids to the study, who will also be provided with an educational training on overdose risk reduction and available HR tools and services. The intervention will then facilitate a counselor-led initial conversation between peer HR support champions and their friend or family member who uses opioids to help establish HR support, and provide all participants with naloxone and fentanyl test strip kits. This intervention will not only provide another mechanism through which PWUD can access HR tools and services, thereby reducing logistical barriers, but should also reduce stigma and increase social support by facilitating and normalizing open conversations about HR between PWUD and their non-PWUD HR support champions. Participants of a previous focus group conducted by the Investigators among West side PWUD thought this intervention would be helpful, said they would be willing to participate in it, and said they knew someone who could participate as their non-PWUD peer HR support champion. To facilitate recruitment of older adults, the Investigative Team will work with local faith-based and service organizations and educate them about the importance of HR. The intervention's efficacy will be evaluated for a) increasing uptake/use of HR services, b) decreasing overdose frequency, and c) decreasing stigma and other barriers to accessing HR services, both i) by examining change over time among intervention participants, and ii) by using propensity-score matching methods to compare outcomes between intervention participants and a comparison group of PWUD who have recently accessed HR services from one of the study's community partners (Community Outreach Intervention Projects or West Side Heroin and Opioid Task Force).

Conditions

Opioid Overdose Prevention

People Who Use Opioids/People With Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)

Reduction of Substance Use-related Stigma

Non-substance-using People With a Friend or Family Member Who Uses Opioids

Peer Harm Reduction Support Champions

Study ID

NCT06823453

Start date

Oct 28, 2025

Status verified date

Feb, 2026

Completion date

Sep 1, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Sep 1, 2028

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Eligibility Criteria for Non-PWUD (i.e., people who do not use drugs) Peer Intervention Participants, to Be Trained as Harm Reduction Support Champions. 1) Non-PWUD peers recruited directly to the study (i.e., not by a PWUD peer partner) will be eligible to participate in the intervention arm of the study if they live in Chicago, know someone at least 18 years of age who lives on the West side of Chicago who currently uses opioids (to the best of their knowledge), state that they are interested in learning how to offer social support and practical support to that person, report that they have not used "hard" drugs (drugs other than alcohol or marijuana) recreationally in the last year, are at least 18 years of age, and state that they and the person they want to support are able to be interviewed in English and/or Spanish. 2) Non-PWUD peers recruited to the intervention arm of the study by a study participant they know who uses drugs will be eligible to participate in the intervention if they live in Chicago, report that they have not used "hard" drugs (drugs other than alcohol or marijuana) recreationally in the last year, state that they are willing to learn how to support their peer who uses drugs, are at least 18 years old, and are able to be interviewed in English and/or Spanish.

Eligibility Criteria for PWUD Intervention Participants (i.e., intervention participants who use drugs). 1) People who use drugs (PWUD) recruited directly to the intervention arm of the study (i.e., not by a non-PWUD peer partner) by West Side Heroin and Opioid Task Force or snowball sampling will be eligible to participate in the intervention if they live on the West side of Chicago, report that they currently use opioids (i.e., in the last week), know at least one person living in Chicago who has not used opioids in the last year and who they are willing to try to recruit to the study as someone who might be willing to offer them harm reduction support, are at least 18 years old, and are able to be interviewed in English and/or Spanish. 2) PWUD recruited to the intervention arm of the study by their non-PWUD peers who are enrolled in the study will be eligible to participate in the intervention group if they live in Chicago, have a study recruitment coupon from a non-PWUD participant, report that they currently use opioids (i.e., in the last week), state that they are willing to learn how their peer might be able to support them, are at least 18 years of age, and are able to be interviewed in English and/or Spanish.

Eligibility Criteria for Non-equivalent Comparison Group Participants. Comparison group participants will be eligible to participate in the comparison arm of the study if they report currently using opioids (i.e., in the last week), have accessed harm reduction services from one of the study's community partners (Community Outreach Intervention Projects; or West Side Heroin and Opioid Task Force) in the last six months, are at least 18 years old, and are able to speak English and/or Spanish. These individuals who are recruited to the comparison group will not be eligible to participate in the intervention unless they are given a recruitment coupon by a non-PWUD peer.

Study Design

Enrollment

600 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Non randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Prevention

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

active comparator: Peer Harm Reduction Support Champion Intervention

This intervention will recruit non-substance-using friends and family members of people who use opioids and live on the West side of Chicago, educate them on harm reduction (HR) tools and services, and train them to become peer HR support champions. They will be asked to recruit one friend or family member who uses opioids to the study, who will also be provided with an educational training on overdose risk reduction and available HR tools and services. The intervention will then facilitate a counselor-led initial conversation between peer HR support champions and their friend or family member who uses opioids, to help establish HR-related support, and will provide all participants with naloxone and fentanyl test strip kits. This intervention will not only provide another mechanism through which people who use opioids can access HR tools and services, thereby reducing logistical barriers to access and preventing overdose, but it should also reduce stigma and increase social support.

no intervention: Non-equivalent comparison group of PWUD with some recent access to harm reduction services

A non-equivalent comparison group will be recruited of people who use drugs (PWUD) who have recently (in the last six months) accessed harm reduction services from one of the study's community partners.

Interventions

Peer Harm Reduction Support Champion Intervention

This intervention will recruit non-substance-using friends and family members of people who use opioids and live on the West side of Chicago, educate them on harm reduction (HR) tools and services, and train them to become peer HR support champions. They will be asked to recruit one friend or family member who uses opioids to the study, who will also be provided with an educational training on overdose risk reduction and available HR tools and services. The intervention will then facilitate a counselor-led initial conversation between peer HR support champions and their friend or family member who uses opioids, to help establish HR-related support, and will provide all participants with naloxone and fentanyl test strip kits. This intervention will not only provide another mechanism through which people who use opioids can access HR tools and services, thereby reducing logistical barriers to access and preventing overdose, but it should also reduce stigma and increase social support.

Primary outcome measure

  • Overdose Frequency and Experiences [ Time Frame: baseline, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months ]
  • Number of Types of Harm Reduction Services Accessed [ Time Frame: baseline, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months ]
  • Frequency of Access to Harm Reduction Tools and Services [ Time Frame: baseline, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Leslie D. Williams, Ph.D.

312-996-8820lesliedw@uic.edu

Maggie Kaufmann, M.P.H.

312-996-3197mkaufm4@uic.edu

Locations

Community Outreach Intervention Projects (COIP)

Recruiting

Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60644

Contacts

Maggie Kaufmann, M.P.H.

312-996-3197mkaufm4@uic.edu

Julio Garcia

773-252-5317jgarci10@uic.edu

More Information

Sponsor

University of Illinois at Chicago

Last update posted

Feb 24, 2026

Last verified

Feb, 2026

Keywords

  • opioid overdose prevention
  • drug overdose prevention
  • overdose prevention

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Illinois at Chicago on 2026-02-24.