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The Wright Center participates in pilot program involving overdose-reversing medication naloxone
The Wright Center for Community Health has partnered with a health care technology company to test a new digital platform that promotes naloxone readiness and empowers individuals to respond to overdoses.
Contingency Management Innovations (CMI), a division of Q2i, developed the groundbreaking digital platform, NALCAM, which combines mobile technology with behavior reinforcement and public health education to strengthen community overdose response capacity. CMI contacted The Wright Center, which has worked with the company on another project, to test the new platform. In all, seven patients involved in The Wright Center’s state-designated Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence participated in the recently completed research pilot.
Scott Constantini, associate vice president of primary care and recovery services integration at The Wright Center for Community Health
“We know that Narcan prevents overdose deaths,” said Scott Constantini, associate vice president of primary care and recovery services integration at The Wright Center for Community Health. “The Wright Center is always looking for ways to innovate, so when programs like this are developed, we want to participate.”
Through the NALCAM app, participants who register their naloxone kits will receive digital check-ins and brief learning modules to ensure they carry their kits and know how to use them. Completing check-ins and modules provides participants with small rewards to motivate them to carry naloxone and stay ready to use it. The approach is rooted in evidence-based contingency management principles, a behavioral science model proven to improve engagement and retention across a range of backgrounds, according to CMI.
“NALCAM demonstrates how digital contingency management can drive measurable public health outcomes,” said Steven Jenkins, CEO of Q2i. “By rewarding proactive, life-saving behaviors like naloxone carriage and overdose education, we’re helping states, counties, and health care organizations build scalable, data-informed programs.”
The Wright Center for Community Health, a Scranton-based provider of whole-person primary health services, is committed to helping individuals with substance use disorder. The Wright Center became a state-designated Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence in 2016. Since then, it has provided outpatient addiction treatment and recovery services, including medication-assisted treatment, to thousands of people in Northeast Pennsylvania.
The Wright Center is one of many approved, community-based distribution sites, officially known as “recognized entities,” that receive naloxone kits through the Pennsylvania Overdose Prevention Program. The program was launched in 2023 as a joint initiative between the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs. Anyone can pick up a free naloxone kit at any of The Wright Center’s 13 community health centers in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne, and Wyoming counties. For a list of locations and hours, visit TheWrightCenter.org/locations.
To learn more about the services available through the Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence, call 570-230-0019 or visit TheWrightCenter.org/services/coe.
For more information on NALCAM, visit nalcam.com.
