Projects and Programs

IT MATTTRs™ helps communities and primary care practices reduce suffering from opioid dependence and use disorder (OUD).This program helps communities change the conversation around opioids and treatment and trains and supports primary care and behavioral health practice teams so that effective, outpatient treatment is locally available.

Developed by community members, OUD experts, and health researchers, IT MATTTRs™ offers a host of evidence-based materials and resources to inform community members and increase access to local medication assisted treatment (MAT) for OUD in your community.

Primary care practices can play a key role in reducing a huge nationwide treatment gap for OUD. Over 40 primary care practices have been trained in the IT MATTTRs™ Practice Team Training, which provides information, implementation support, and resources that primary care practices need to provide treatment for opioid dependence and OUD. This training, and our Train the Trainer Program, help practices be part of the local solution.

Using a community-based participatory research method called Boot Camp Translation, a community-based awareness and action intervention around MAT for OUD has been developed for the IT MATTTRs™ program. Community-based campaigns were developed to change the conversation in rural communities around OUD, and increase awareness, knowledge, and utilization of MAT in rural local primary care practices. A variety of printed materials were created for the IT MATTTRs™ community intervention, including coasters, posters, program inserts, restaurant placemats, newspaper articles, letters to judges, movie advertisements, and websites.

Email us at itmatttrs@cuanschutz.edu for more information.

Diabetes is more common in rural areas than the rest of the state. While diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) is an evidence-based standard of care in optimal diabetes management, many people living in rural communities often do not have access to DSMES locally and it may not be culturally relevant, or integrated into the primary care practices where patients receive their diabetes care. 

A time-efficient DSMES program delivered in English and Spanish via telehealth that encourages care partners and peer support is a creative solution to increasing access to DSMES and reducing the negative health outcomes associated with diabetes.

Working with community partners, this study will adapt, implement, and evaluate an existing DSMES program, called Diabetes One Day, for use in rural communities and practices. The program, called the Rural Diabetes One Day (R-D1D) will be implemented in two clinics in rural Eastern Colorado. The results of this study will inform a larger-scale study and, ultimately, the sharing and spread of this Rural-Diabetes One Day program throughout eastern Colorado and other rural regions of the country.

For more information, email us at RuralDiabetesOneDay@cuanschutz.edu.