Update: Michigan AHEC Helps Address Opioid Issues with HRSA Supplemental Funds

This fall, Michigan AHEC was awarded a one-year $230,000 grant from U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) that will be used for workforce training activities to support opioid use disorder diagnosis, prevention and treatment. The funds were divided among Michigan AHEC's five regional centers for activities that help address unique aspects of the Opioid crisis in their region. Below are current supplemental funding updates by region.

Southeast Regional Center: The Southeast Regional Center facilitated two opioid-related conference presentations in October 2018. One presentation about integrated primary, behavioral health and opioid addiction care was given at Covenant Community Care's Christian Community Health Fellowship Detroit Mini-conference. The other presentation was a breakout session and panel discussion given at the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance Annual Meeting and dealt with caring for people with substance use disorders. Future plans include training and outreach to local community groups on substance use disorders and opioid abuse.

Western Regional Center:  The Western Regional Center is planning a series of CME events to be presented in the summer of 2019 entitled "Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT): Is it Right for My Practice?" The locations for the training are: Baker College in Jackson, Allegan General Hospital in Allegan and Mercy Health in Muskegon. The goal of the training is to increase access to treatment interventions for Physicians, Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners.

Northern Lower Regional Center: As part of the HRSA supplemental funding, the NLRC identified the need for rural community health center staff and local community members to be trained in SafeTALK. SafeTALK is a 3-4 hour training that prepares participants to recognize invitations of help with thoughts of suicide. They are then able to connect a person with thoughts of suicide to intervention resources.

The training is being provided by a local prevention specialist. Two classes have been held and 37 people have been trained from Roscommon, Crawford and Ogemaw counties. Twenty-one health center staff are signed up for future trainings to be held in February and March.

MidCentral Regional Center: MCRC is the title sponsor for a state and regional tribal conference on the opioid crisis in partnership with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. The purpose of the conference is to advance action steps for new and innovative methods of grass roots community based treatment, development of new access points, community participation in native healing therapies, and emphasize early prevention and interventions for youth. MCRC serves a part of a workgroup with 8 tribal leaders to develop the conference agenda, secure speakers, develop CME credits, assist with IT, registration, evaluation and general logistics. See related article in this newsletter for more information.

Upper Peninsula Regional Center: A 2018/19 HRSA Supplemental Funding Grant was obtained towards opioid initiatives with students and the community. Specifically, several projects will be completed in 2019: 1) providing about 40 nursing students and 40 social work students with mental health first aid training with a substance abuse/opioid component; 2) training instructors who can train students and community health workers in the future; and 3) starting a Marquette Opioid Community Task Force which will conduct community opioid mapping and focus groups. The goal will be to get opioid resources out to those entering the health professions as well as finding the areas that need more resources.

The Michigan AHEC program is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number U77HP26852. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.