Controlling the Opioid Crisis
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, opioid-related overdoses claim the lives of more than 130 people each day. To combat this problem, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has launched The Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP). This multi-year initiative has a specific focus on rural communities as they have more difficulty getting treatment and care, which leads to higher death rates and higher opioid use disorders. RCORP funds three centers to combat these issues: one for prevention, one for treatment, and one for recovery. Currently, the rural centers that the RCORP put in place are working to gather intel on how to best structure interventions in order to prevent, treat, and recover based on effectivity and sustainability in the rural communities. The centers are doing this by constructing pilot projects for substance use disorder (SUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD) and then circulate the findings to the other centers by written publications, conference presentations, etc. This communication between centers then advances the quality of assistance the RCORP will provide to those struggling with OUD and/or SUD.
Currently, the RCORP-Impact is heading a project that over the course of four years, will fund grantees up to $750,000 to aid people and families in rural communities that are impacted by SUD. The RCORP is selecting grantees that aim to emphasize treatment and recovery services; create a workforce for SUD that consists of physicians with a variety of specializations and peer recovery specialists; collaborate with social services to improve the prospects for long-term rehabilitation for individuals and families impacted by SUD; and ensure that services can be provided even after the grant concludes.
These are just a few ways in which the RCORP is working to tackle SUD and OUD related-issues in rural communities. Grant programs, such as RCORP-Implementation and RCORP-Impact, help fund groups to further combat these difficulties. RCORP provides funding for numerous grant initiatives. All of them seek to treat or prevent opioid use disorder (OUD) in rural populations.
By Brianna Keaveny