Community Care in Reach®

Community Care in Reach®

Community Care in Reach®, previously known as CareZONE, is an innovative mobile health initiative that brings together partners in preventive care, addiction services, and harm reduction to serve individuals not well-connected to health care, experiencing homelessness and/or living with addiction.

Using an innovative partnership model, Community Care in Reach combats the opioid epidemic with accessible, on-demand care. In Boston, experienced staff from Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and the Boston Public Health Commission’s AHOPE program provide a range of services on the van and connect patients to community health centers, treatment programs, or specialty care.

• Addiction Services: Medications for addiction treatment and referrals to opioid treatment programs & in-patient detox
• Harm Reduction: Naloxone, overdose prevention education, risk reduction counseling, and syringe exchange
• Preventive Care: Screenings, immunizations, chronic disease management (including hypertension, diabetes, HIV treatment), and referrals to behavioral health, hepatitis C treatment, specialty medical care, and other services based on patient needs and preferences.

To learn more about the program, please watch the video below.

This innovative program was originally launched in Boston in January 2018. In 2020, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health granted funding to four mobile addiction service sites across the Commonwealth, including the original Boston program and two additional Community Care in Reach affiliates. The expansion of the program was also made possible by the generous donation of two mobile units by the Robert K. Kraft Family to the new sites in Worcester and Western Massachusetts as well as ongoing support from our partners at The GE Foundation. A list of each Community Care in Reach site and the program partners.

In April 2021, Brockton Neighborhood Health Center officially launched their Community Care in Reach mobile program supported by generous donation of a state-of-the-art mobile medical unit from The Robert K. Kraft Family. Operations costs for the Brockton program are funded through the HEALing Communities Study. See a video of the program launch below.

For more information on Community Care in Reach, please visit our Contact Us page.

The Boston Health Care for the Homeless Institute for Research, Quality & Policy in Homeless Health Care completed an evaluation of the 10-month pilot program in Boston. To read their full report, click here.

Youth & Young Adult Pilot Program

Based on the early success of the Community Care in Reach® initiative, The Kraft Center partnered with the Hearst Foundation, the Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine at Boston Medical Center, Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, and Bridge Over Troubled Waters to bring mobile addiction services to youth and young adults (YYA) who access addiction services at much lower rates than older populations despite ongoing need. Leveraging the strengths and experiences of each partner agency, this pilot program provides two weekly evening sessions of mobile addiction services sessions for YYA in Downtown Boston. This pilot will conclude in fall of 2021, during which time there will be a robust evaluation to help guide future directions of the project.

Publications

• February 23, 2022 – Substance Use & Misuse: “Awareness, Utilization, and Preferences of Harm Reduction Interventions among Street-Involved Young Adults in Boston” by Elizabeth A. Noyes, BS; Spencer Dunleavy, AB; Victoria Mail, MA; Isabel Plakas, BA; Susan Keyes, DrPH, RN; Jessie M. Gaeta, MD; Auro Obando, MD; Elizabeth Paci, MD; Claudia Lent, MSW; Craig Regis, MPH; Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH; Amy M. Yule, MD; and Avik Chatterjee, MD, MPH
• August 3, 2021 – Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved: “Experience with a Mobile Addiction Program among People Experiencing Homelessness” by Danielle R. Fine, MD, MSc; Karen Weinstock, BS; Isabel Plakas, BA; Sarah Mackin, MPH; Joseph Wright, MD; Jessie M. Gaeta, MD;  Karen Donelan, ScD, EdM; and Travis P. Baggett, MD, MPH
• September 25, 2020 – Frontiers in Public Health: “Community Care in Reach: Mobilizing Harm Reduction and Addiction Treatment Services for Vulnerable Populations” by Craig Regis, MPH; Jessie M. Gaeta, MD; Sarah Mackin, MPH; Travis P. Baggett, MD, MPH; Joan Quinlan, MPA; and Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH

Community Care in Reach® In the Media

• February 15, 2022 – AAMC: “As Drug Overdoses Soar, More Providers Embrace Harm Reduction” by Stacy Weiner
• April 30, 2021 – Boston Globe: “Kraft Opens Brockton Mobile Opioid Clinic” by Hiawatha Bray
• April 30, 2021 – The Enterprise: “Robert Kraft Helps Bring Health Care ‘To The People’ of Brockton with Mobile Addiction Unit” by Darvence Chery
• April 30, 2021 – 7 News WHDH: “Kraft Family Helps Fight Addiction with New Mobile Medical Center in Brockton” by Brynne Connolly
• September 25, 2020 – Mass General Press Release: “New Study Highlights Success of a Mobile Clinical and Outreach Van Helping People on the Street with Opioid Addiction” by McKenzie Ridings
• May 25, 2020 – Boston Globe Op-Ed: “Mobilizing Health Care During Coranvirus” by Elsie Taveras, Craig Regis, and Josh Kraft of The Kraft Center
• October 10, 2019 – WBUR: “Boston is Using a Chemical Warfare Device to Help Fight Fentanyl” by Martha Bebinger featuring Community Care in Reach® partners at AHOPE and RIZE Massachusetts
• August 22, 2019 – NPR′s Here & Now: “Opioid Treatment Van Makes Rounds in Boston” by Martha Bebinger
• June 12, 2019 – WBUR: “The Van Vs. An Opioid Addiction: Taking Treatment to the Streets” by Martha Bebinger
• January 9, 2018 – WBUR: “Mobile Health Van Aims To Treat Addiction On The Streets” by Deborah Becker
• January 9, 2018 – NBC 10 Boston: “Pats Owner Funds Opioid Addiction Service Van”
• January 9, 2018 – Boston Globe: “Kraft-Funded Van Will Bring Addiction Services to City Streets” by Jon Chesto

Mobile Addiction Services Toolkit

The Kraft Center has developed a Mobile Addiction Services Toolkit which provides a comprehensive overview of how to launch an operate a mobile addiction program following our Community Care in Reach® model. Included are sample protocols, best practices, and lessons learned over the course of our experiences with our own mobile health program.  To access the toolkit, please click here.