New London CARES Project

The New London Coordinated, Access, Resources, Engagement, and Support (CARES) project, developed by Ledge Light Health District and Alliance for Living in collaboration with the Yale School of Medicine, aims to enhance access to harm reduction services and opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment. The program leverages community outreach by patient navigators to connect people with harm reduction and low threshold, mobile buprenorphine services in New London, CT. Care teams consisting of a physician board-certified in Addiction Medicine and a peer navigator complete medical evaluations at the patient’s preferred location, provide buprenorphine prescription accompanied by a self-initiation protocol, and schedule the patient to follow up with a clinic-based provider for ongoing care. The New London CARES Project often hosts Collaborative Behavioral Health and Addiction Medicine in Primary Care (CHAMP) trainees.