Adapting the HOPE Online Support Intervention to Increase MAT Uptake Among OUD Patients

The proposed study is a low-risk, randomized control trial to assess the efficacy of the HOPE (Harnessing Online Peer Education) intervention, an evidenced-based peer-led social media/online community intervention (e.g., Facebook Groups), to increase self-reported requests for medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) among patients with moderate to severe opioid use disorder (OUD). Participants will be recruited using a variety of recruitment methods including social media sites (e.g., Facebook), referral by physicians, medical records, research study websites (e.g., UCIMC Clinical Trials website), and study flyers disseminated at various venues, including clinics, group meetings, and shelters. Once enrolled, participants will be randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. Intervention group participants will be invited to join a private and hidden (unable to be viewed or searched for by others) group on Facebook, with approximately 6 peer leaders included in the group. Those in the control group will be invited into a Facebook group, but without peer leaders. The intervention will last 12 weeks. Study measures will be collected at the beginning of the study (baseline), after the completion of the intervention (3 months), with follow up surveys at 6 and 12 months after the study. Participants will be recruited in 5 waves, 2 waves of rural residents and 3 waves of urban residents.