Researchers at Stanford University and RAND awarded grant focused on addressing grief and substance use disorders among people bereaved by drug overdose deaths

We are pleased to announce that Stanford Psychiatry’s Karen Osilla, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has received a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Dr. Osilla is joined by Co-PI Dr. Alison Athey, associate behavioral scientist at RAND, for the project titled, “Families left behind: Addressing prolonged grief and substance use disorders among people bereaved by drug overdose deaths.”

The United States is experiencing historic rates of drug overdose deaths, which have a ripple effect affecting the health and well-being among the bereaved.

This study is a novel practice-research partnership between Peer Support Community Partners who have developed a peer grief support model for drug overdose bereavement, a promising practice that has been implemented successfully in the community, but has not yet been rigorously tested. This study seeks to not only understand whether a peer support model aids those grieving an overdose, but it also proactively engages and connects grieving individuals to resources through medical examiner offices who contact family as part of their standard practice with death investigations.

This research represents a significant step towards understanding and supporting a community that has been too long overlooked. By combining community and research expertise, this partnership aims to build the science of overdose bereavement and provide increased support for those affected by this tragic issue. This study is part of the NIH’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) initiative to speed scientific solutions to the national opioid public health crisis.

“Bereaving a drug overdose death is more common than ever before and this special grief is compounded by guilt, shame, stigma, isolation, and adverse substance use and mental health outcomes” says Dr. Osilla and Dr. Athey. “This project aims to increase access to peer grief support for those bereaving an overdose death to help improve outcomes and mitigate downstream consequences that impact both the individual and the community.”

Dr. Osilla conducts health services research with a focus on delivering substance use services to underserved populations using innovative solutions that decrease health access disparities. Recent publications related to Dr. Osilla’s work include, “Collaborative Care Model for Patients With Opioid Use Disorder and Mental Illness” in JAMA Network.

More Information

Read more details about the project on NIH RePORTER.