Communities That HEAL (CTH) Intervention

Putting community members at the center of decisions and actions

Communities That HEAL Protocol

The HCS is a multi-site trial that evaluated the impact of the Communities That HEAL (CTH) intervention compared with usual care in wait-list communities. See the full protocol here. This page includes all HCS publications as indexed in PubMed.

Data-driven step-by-step intervention

The Communities That HEAL (CTH) intervention was created by a team of opioid-overdose reduction experts from academic and medical institutions in the four states where the Healing Communities Study took place: Ohio, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and New York. The CTH is a step-by-step process that puts community members at the center of all decision making and action to reduce overdose deaths. The intervention mirrors similar programs that have worked in communities to inspire change. The CTH stands apart from other approaches to community overdose reduction in two important ways:

  1. The CTH is a data-driven approach, meaning that community members are presented with current information about the extent to which overdose death are happening in their area to inform their selection of evidence-based practices.
  2. The CTH is a community-engaged approach, meaning that public health officials assist and empower communities to make choices, coordinate action, and put practices into place that will effectively reduce overdoses.

Phases of Intervention, 0-6

Select a phase below to reveal more resources within each sub-phase.