This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), provides $197,250 to the Friends Research Institute, Inc. to study the impact of a social worker-delivered intervention called SWORD on individuals bereaved by drug overdose.
The study aims to leverage a unique opportunity to compare outcomes between participants who receive the SWORD intervention and a randomly selected control group, as the OCME (Office of the Chief Medical Examiner) expands SWORD service delivery. Researchers will conduct surveys with 300 overdose-bereaved individuals to examine the effects of SWORD on grief severity, substance use, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other aspects of bereavement-related functioning. Qualitative interviews with 30 overdose-bereaved adults will also help characterize their needs and identify gaps in SWORD services. This two-year project, running from February 2025 to January 2027, is part of the NIH's broader HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-Term) Initiative focused on addressing the national opioid public health crisis.
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