The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether adding peer recovery support services to standard opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment in primary care helps patients stay in treatment longer. The main question it seeks to answer is whether it is feasible to deliver a peer recovery support intervention alongside medication-assisted treatment (buprenorphine) in a Philadelphia primary care clinic.

Participants will receive standard OUD treatment (buprenorphine) combined with peer recovery support services for 180 days. They will attend study visits at baseline, weekly for the first 2 weeks, then every 2 weeks, then monthly, and complete assessments about substance use, medication adherence, self-efficacy, resilience, and coping. Participants will also take part in brief periodic interviews about their experience with peer support.

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic, relapsing condition associated with substantial morbidity, mortality, and social burden. Buprenorphine, delivered in primary care settings, is an evidence-based treatment for OUD, yet treatment dropout remains a critical barrier to recovery. Many patients disengage during the early weeks following induction, before buprenorphine has had the opportunity to stabilize their condition. Peer recovery support (PRS) services, provided by individuals with lived experience of addiction and recovery, represent a promising strategy to improve retention, but the evidence base for optimized peer interventions in primary care OUD treatment remains limited.

The peer intervention evaluated in this study was developed through a systematic optimization process conducted in partnership with OUD, peer, and implementation experts, with extensive input from patients, practitioners, and community stakeholders. Intervention design drew on surveys and qualitative studies of Philadelphia-region OUD treatment programs with existing peer support services, as well as best practices from community health worker models in other chronic disease settings. Component elements, including peer qualifications, supervision structure, training curriculum, caseload size, scope of services, and care team integration, were systematically evaluated and refined prior to the pilot.

The resulting intervention is organized around five core structural elements: (1) clinically integrated supervision with structured case review; (2) standardized recruitment and hiring practices emphasizing empathy, problem-solving capacity, and community engagement; (3) a competency-based training curriculum covering psychosocial support, crisis response, stigma, interprofessional ethics, social determinants of health, and system navigation; (4) stage-tailored peer-patient contact, with intensive engagement during the high-dropout early induction period transitioning to stabilization-focused support as treatment progresses; and (5) active peer wellness practices to mitigate compassion fatigue and burnout.

This pilot study will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and operational implementation of the intervention within primary care-based buprenorphine treatment programs and generate data to inform a future randomized controlled trial.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18 years or older
• Diagnosis of opioid use disorder (OUD)
• Currently receiving or initiating buprenorphine treatment from a primary care physician
• Able to communicate in English
• Access to a phone
• Able and willing to provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Acute suicidal ideation or intent
• Active mania or psychotic episode
• Significant cognitive impairment

Individual participant data will not be shared. This is a small pilot feasibility study involving participants with opioid use disorder, a population for whom confidentiality protections are particularly important given the sensitivity of substance use data and potential risks of stigma and discrimination. The sample is too small for effective de-identification of individual-level data. Aggregate descriptive findings will be reported in publications.