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CAPP Highlights: West Virginia Council Members
Join the Peer Support Specialist Data Registry
STARS MOUD Clinic Research Exchange
Lunch & Learns
Additional Resources |
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CAPP Highlights:
West Virginia Council Members |
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The Central Appalachian Peer Partnership (CAPP) Advisory Council is a STARS initiative comprised of Peer Support Specialists (PSS) who inform the development of recovery science in Central Appalachia. The CAPP Advisory Council includes 10 PSS working in 6 Central Appalachian states (KY, NC, OH, TN, VA, and WV). These members provide leadership for CAPP and the CAPP Peer Support Specialist Data Registry (more information about the data registry is available below). |
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In this issue, we feature the perspectives of CAPP's West Virginia council members, Dan McCawley (DM), Director of Operations at West Virginia Sober Living Solutions, and Karen Dominick (KD), Peer Support Specialist at Aetna Better Health of West Virginia.
What have been some of the most rewarding aspects of your work in peer recovery support?
DM: The true gift of this profession has been seeing the lights come back on in someone who has lost hope for a better future. I started my work in peer recovery with a program doing community-based interventions. I was out in the streets and alleyways, meeting people where they were and helping them find the options for a path to health and wellness. Seeing some of them today with families, vocations, and, most importantly, their smiles, fills me with happiness beyond measure.
KD: Being a Peer Recovery Support Specialist (PRSS) has allowed me to use negative experiences from my past for a positive purpose. It allows me to inspire hope and display that it is never too late and recovery is possible.
What are some of the looming challenges for peer recovery support services and/or the work that you are doing right now?
DM: Across the board, creating a sustainable workforce is one of the biggest challenges facing the role of peer recovery. In many states, there is a wage and no room for advancement in this field. We lose incredible peer supporters to advanced counseling opportunities, or they leave the treatment and recovery fields entirely because of the need to feed their families.
KD: I think the biggest challenge of being a PRSS is experiencing the loss of a client due to barriers, such as lack of bed openings or transportation, which contribute to preventing clients from entering treatment.
In your experience, what are some factors in West Virginia specifically that are supporting or limiting peer recovery support services?
DM: WV was fortunate to see peer services included in the last iteration of the Medicaid 1115 waiver. Unfortunately, peer recovery isn't always conducted in an office setting. I hope these billable services will expand to nontraditional milieus such as recovery homes and street outreach, including WV's Quick Response Teams.
How might the CAPP Advisory Council help to address any challenges? What do you hope the CAPP will accomplish this year?
DM: CAPP is steadily building a solid foundation for continued research efforts. By capturing genuinely thoughtful and practical data, we will be able to inform policymakers and insurance providers of the true efficacy of this treatment modality. We can help raise the voice of peer support to an audible level and offer confidence to the continuum of care about using peer support for all areas of recovery-focused care.
KD: I hope CAPP will help bring more awareness to the specific needs and unique perspectives of the PRSS role, thus creating more opportunities for growth and utilization.
What is one thing you’ve enjoyed so far serving on the CAPP Advisory Council?
DM: The camaraderie in the group is fantastic! The selfless commitment to helping one another address the needs of the peer community is another reminder of how valuable this role can be.
KD: Being a member of CAPP has allowed me to engage and network more with other fellow Appalachian PRSS, which has been such a blessing. To learn from others about their role and things they are doing is always appreciated and beneficial.
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Join the Peer Support Specialist (PSS) Data Registry |
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The CAPP Peer Support Specialist (PSS) Data Registry is an opportunity to learn more about the roles and activities of PSS in Central Appalachia, including PSS working with patients/clients utilizing Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD). To join the PSS Data Registry, participants first complete a consent form and take a baseline survey. The first 1,000 participants will receive a $25 gift card. PSS Data Registry participants will be contacted to voluntarily participate in additional surveys with incentives. For more information and the criteria to register, please visit: https://the-orcca.com/peer-data-registry.
NEW SURVEY AVAILABLE! Registered PSS who have completed the baseline survey will be invited to take the next survey focused on Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT). If you signed up to receive a link to take the baseline survey but have not yet completed it, please check your email for a message from CAPP Data Registry to complete the qualification questions and baseline survey, before moving on to the supplemental surveys. |
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The STARS MOUD Clinic Research Exchange Continues to Recruit Clinics
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The STARS Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) Clinic Research Exchange is a practice-based research network that aims to advance research on behavioral interventions and other support services that can facilitate treatment and recovery among individuals with OUD. The Exchange is comprised of clinics in Central Appalachia that provide MOUD/medication-assisted treatment (MAT), including opioid treatment programs (OTPs) and office-based opioid/addiction treatment (OBOT/OBAT) programs. We believe that collaborative, community-engaged research will discover effective solutions, faster.
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Please help us recruit more participating clinics!
While a variety of clinics are welcome, we are currently prioritizing engagement with:
- Clinics in Ohio
- OTPs throughout Central Appalachia
If you are familiar with a clinic that provides MOUD/MAT and that would be a good fit for the research exchange, please click the button below to contact Dr. Angela Hagaman. |
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Lunch & Learn Recording: Patient Engagement in Medication Treatment for OUD |
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On January 25, 2024, Melissa Poulsen, PhD, presented findings from her qualitative research on multilevel barriers and facilitators to patient engagement in clinic-based treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) and the outgrowth of that research to a new project that integrates peer recovery specialists into treatment settings. You can view the recording here. |
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Please mark your calendars for the next Lunch & Learn!
March 20, 2024 @ Noon EST
"Data-driven Prevention Strategies
for Community Development"
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Speakers Alex Hanlon, PhD, Professor of Practice and Director, Virginia Tech's Center for Biostatistics and Health Data Science; Sarah Samis, Vice President of Health, GCOM; and William Ellis, Community Engagement Specialist and Certified Peer Recovery Specialist, GCOM will give an overview of how to approach data integration and data sharing across communities, empowering front-line substance use prevention professionals, academic research partners, and state and local agency staff to work together to prevent substance use overdoses and fatalities.
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Consortium on Addiction Recovery Science (CoARS) |
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The Consortium on Addiction Recovery Science (CoARS) is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and coordinated by Dr. Aaron Hogue (PI). It is an example of NIDA’s investment in increasing our understanding of recovery support services. In 2018, NIDA announced a new funding opportunity: RFA-DA-20-014; Research Networks for the Study of Recovery Support Services for Persons Treated with Medications for Opioid Use Disorder.
Five research teams were funded in the first cohort, including STARS, whose collective mission was to advance the science on recovery support services through research networking, training and mentoring students and early career scientists, and building community partnerships. In 2022, NIDA increased its investment in recovery support science by announcing two new RFAs: (1) fund additional research teams to build research and training infrastructure and (2) fund preliminary studies testing the effectiveness of recovery support services. NIDA also provided three years of funding to CoARS to consolidate the partnership among the eight R24 and three R34-funded research teams.
The CoARS website is dedicated to sharing information on our progress, and to invite and enable participation: https://www.recoveryanswers.org/coars/
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Additional STARS Resources |
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Recovery Research Graduate Certificate |
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This 12-hour certificate will include two existing courses in social work, two non-credit bearing workshops on the responsible conduct of clinical/health services research, and two new interprofessional courses designed to enhance student skills in research methods for addiction and recovery research. The certificate is designed for graduate students, members of regional health systems, addiction treatment facilities, and other community-based organizations (CBOs) that are interested in conducting or participating in recovery research. Learn More
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Please contact us if you have recently published work you'd like to share with the STARS network related to Peer Recovery Support Services, Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD), and similar topics.
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Looking for a collaborator? |
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