Project SHIELD 2.0: Police Education to Support Public Health in Kentucky
2 other identifiers
interventional
150
1 country
1
Brief Summary
The project is a pragmatic, quasi-experimental hybrid type II effectiveness-implementation trial of a structural HIV prevention intervention to address police behavior (arrests and referrals) and ultimately improve health among people who use drugs. The study involves a novel implementation strategy that engages behavioral health workers as "local champions" in the delivery of an evidence-based police education program (SHIELD training intervention). In addition to examining implementation outcomes, primary outcomes focus on assessing effectiveness of the intervention among police (specifically in reducing drug-related arrests and promoting referrals to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) treatment. The investigator's overarching effectiveness hypothesis is that after law enforcement organizations receive the SHIELD training intervention, the organizations will be more likely to refer people who use drugs to MOUD treatment and other health and social services, rather than arresting for low level possession offenses. The study will be conducted across different counties in Appalachian Kentucky.
Trial Health
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at P25-P50 for not_applicable hiv
Started Jun 2026
Typical duration for not_applicable hiv
1 active site
Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.
Trial Relationships
Click on a node to explore related trials.
Study Timeline
Key milestones and dates
Study Start
First participant enrolled
June 25, 2026
CompletedFirst Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
September 1, 2026
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
September 4, 2026
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
December 31, 2027
ExpectedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
April 30, 2029
September 11, 2026
September 1, 2026
1.5 years
September 1, 2026
September 8, 2026
Conditions
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (2)
Frequency of Law enforcement officer self-reported referrals to MOUD
From baseline up to 12 months post SHIELD training
Frequency of Law enforcement officer self-reported drug-related arrests
From baseline up to 12 months post SHIELD training
Secondary Outcomes (3)
Law enforcement officer self-reported stress as assessed by survey
From baseline up to 12 months post SHIELD training
Law enforcement officer self-reported burnout as assessed by survey
From baseline up to 12 months post SHIELD training
Law enforcement officer self-reported job satisfaction as assessed by survey
From baseline up to 12 months post SHIELD training
Study Arms (1)
SHIELD 2.0
EXPERIMENTALSHIELD is an evidence-based police education training program. Participants in this study are law enforcement officers who will receive the SHIELD training modules.
Interventions
SHIELD is an evidence-based police education training program that has been demonstrated to change police behavior (arrest and referrals) and improve outcomes among police and people who use drugs in NIH-funded and other research studies. The original intervention delivery relied on academic teams, limiting sustainability and scalability. The investigator's novel "SHIELD 2.0" implementation strategy aims to address these limitations by capacitating the local behavioral health workforce to implement the steps of the SHIELD process, specifically to complete the delivery of the SHIELD intervention to local police officers.
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if:
- An adult over the age of 18 years old
- Currently employed in a law enforcement agency in one of the nine counties participating in the trial
You may not qualify if:
- Only adult participants over the age of 18 will be recruited into the study, and the investigators will not restrict eligibility based on gender, race, or any other socio-demographic characteristics.
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Healthlead
- University of Kentuckycollaborator
- Northeastern Universitycollaborator
- San Diego State Universitycollaborator
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)collaborator
- Brown Universitycollaborator
- University of California, San Diegocollaborator
Study Sites (1)
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky, 40506, United States
Related Publications (1)
Cepeda JA, Loeb T, Salazar ZR, Williams B, Hiltz B, Del Pozo B, Pitpitan EV, Beletsky L, Young AM, Havens JR. Frequent police contact and nonfatal overdose among people who use drugs in rural Appalachia. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2026 Jul 1;284:113188. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2026.113188. Epub 2026 Apr 30.
PMID: 42090841BACKGROUND
Related Links
MeSH Terms
Conditions
Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)
Study Officials
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Javier Cepeda, PhD, MPH
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Eileen Pitpitan, PhD, MA
San Diego State University School of Social Work
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Leo Beletsky, JD, MPH
Northeastern University School of Law, Bouvé College of Health Sciences
Central Study Contacts
Study Design
- Study Type
- interventional
- Phase
- not applicable
- Allocation
- NA
- Masking
- NONE
- Purpose
- OTHER
- Intervention Model
- SINGLE GROUP
- Sponsor Type
- OTHER
- Responsible Party
- SPONSOR
Study Record Dates
First Submitted
September 1, 2026
First Posted
September 4, 2026
Study Start
June 25, 2026
Primary Completion (Estimated)
December 31, 2027
Study Completion (Estimated)
April 30, 2029
Last Updated
September 11, 2026
Record last verified: 2026-09
Data Sharing
- IPD Sharing
- Will not share
The counties in which this study will take place are small and, for the most part, demographically homogeneous. As such, to protect participant confidentiality individual participant data will not be shared.