App Aids Drug Treatment

 A team of CSU faculty and students has developed a new web application that will improve access to drug treatment services, reduce wait times and better ensure that individuals get the help they need.
Drughelp.care enables substance abuse treatment agencies to log the services they provide, such as outpatient treatment and sober living, and easily update their available treatment slots and the length of their waitlist on a daily basis.

The app is fully searchable, allowing treatment providers, first responders and individuals seeking treatment to find available services that match need at the click of a button. It was launched at a meeting of the Cuyahoga County Opiate Taskforce and is being utilized by treatment professionals across the region.

The app was developed by affiliates of CSU’s Center for Behavioral Health Sciences as a component of a strategic partnership with St. Vincent Charity Medical Center to address opiate addiction in Northeast Ohio. Team leaders Miyuki Tedor, associate professor of sociology and criminology, and Patricia Stoddard Dare, professor of social work and coordinator of CSU’s Chemical Dependency Counseling Certificate program, met with over 100 community stakeholders over the course of a year to develop the specifications for the app. The technical specifications were then designed by two CSU software development engineering students under the mentorship of computer science Professor Wenbing Zhao. A grant from the Woodruff Foundation assisted treatment providers with initial registration and training.

“Drughelp.care is already becoming an essential tool for first responders, who act as access points for treatment services,” notes Berea Police Sgt. Pat Greenhill, coordinator of the Safe Passages Initiative, a local program which helps link individuals struggling with substance use with appropriate treatment.