New study shows Honor’s HEROES program at UTHealth Houston may significantly improve quality of life

Honor's HEROES is a recovery-oriented program that offers medication treatment, counseling, peer support, and group services through a flexible patient-centered model. (Photo by UTHealth Houston)

The community-based opioid treatment program Honor’s HEROES at UTHealth Houston may significantly improve treatment retention and quality of life for people with opioid use disorder, even among those facing major barriers such as homelessness, lack of insurance, and prior overdose, according to a new study. 

The findings were published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine.

Nationally, the opioid crisis continues to take a devastating toll. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 80,000 people in the U.S. died from opioid-involved overdoses in 2023, representing 76% of all overdose deaths. Although the nation saw a slight decline from the previous year, the burden remains staggering, with 217 Americans dying every day from an opioid overdose. Since 1999, opioids have claimed the lives of more than 806,000 people nationwide.

“Retention in treatment is one of the strongest predictors of recovery in opioid use disorder,” said James Langabeer, PhD, EdD, MBA, first author of the study, founder of Honor’s HEROES, executive director of the Center for Behavioral Emergency and Addiction Research at McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston, and the school’s Robert H. Graham Professor in Entrepreneurial Biomedical Informatics and Bioengineering. “Our findings show that integrated, community-based programs meaningfully boost patient engagement and lead to measurable improvements in quality of life.”

Honor's HEROES is a recovery-oriented program that offers medication treatment, counseling, peer support, and group services through a flexible patient-centered model.

Researchers evaluated outcomes for 1,124 adults enrolled in the program in Houston over the course of five years and found that 74.1% of participants remained in treatment for at least 90 days, a key benchmark associated with improved long-term recovery outcomes.

The study also found a clear link between service engagement and retention. Participants who used multiple services including medication, counseling, peer support, and group therapy stayed in treatment the longest, averaging 128 days within the study’s 180-day observation window.

“People with opioid use disorder face enormous barriers to care, but this study shows that flexible, community-based treatment can keep people engaged and improve their quality of life,” said Andrea Yatsco, PhD, co-author on the study, assistant professor at McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics, and director of operations at Honor’s HEROES. 

Participants also reported meaningful improvements in health and well-being. Quality-of-life scores increased by an average of 13.2 points, and nearly 71% of participants reported feeling better after enrolling in the program.

Despite high rates of relapse, which is common in opioid use disorder treatment, the program saw low rates of overdose and death. These outcomes suggest that ongoing engagement in community-based care may help reduce the risk of fatal overdose.

The overall findings suggest that the Honor’s HEROES program reflects a growing national shift toward recovery-oriented systems of care, which emphasize flexibility, patient choice, and integration of medical, behavioral, and peer support services.

“Our five-year study shows that recovery is real and within reach,” Langabeer said. “With comprehensive outpatient treatment through Honor’s HEROES, we continue to see lives saved, stability regained, and families reunited through compassionate, evidence-based care.”

Other UTHealth Houston authors on the study include Tiffany Champagne-Langabeer, PhD, RDN; Sarah Cohen, MS; and Shabana Walia, MD, MPH. 

To learn more about Honor’s HEROES visit, sbmi.uth.edu/heroes.