UK Students 1st to Graduate From Program Aimed at Combating Opioid Crisis

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 2, 2020) ⁠ The first cohort of students to participate in the “Building Substance Use Disorder Workforce Capacity in the Appalachia Region” has graduated — marking a successful first year for the program aimed at combating Kentucky’s opioid epidemic.

In August of 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded nearly $400 million to establish and expand access to substance use disorder and mental health services. The College of Social Work (CoSW) at the University of Kentucky received $1.3 million from the Opioid Workforce Expansion Program (OWEP). 

As a predominately rural region, Appalachia has been hit particularly hard by the opioid crisis. The CoSW project has a profoundly important goal — to provide the necessary training to address the behavioral health needs in those underserved communities.

The project, which is designed to build workforce capacity, is a collaborative effort with the College of Education. Students from social work and counseling psychology are integrated in care settings to receive specialized training and experience with treatments for substance use disorder and opioid use disorder.

During the 2019-20 academic year, 16 students were funded by a stipend during the yearlong program. Those students studied at 13 agencies across 13 Kentucky counties.

“This project allows us to continue to build relationships and expand practicum sites to better serve those impacted by substance use disorder,” Kalea Benner, the principal investigator, said. “In particular, it helps those living in the underserved communities of the Appalachian region.”

The three-year project seeks to address the workforce capacity gap by training 54 Master of Social Work (MSW) students and 12 counseling psychology practitioners to meet the needs of those experiencing substance use disorder in underserved communities.

“The materials provided helped me develop a substance use education and support group at my practicum, Berea College Counseling Services. This helped serve an often underserved student population,” Alix Burke, an MSW graduate and a senior social worker at UK HealthCare in the Infectious Disease Department, said. “It also allowed me to share resources about substance use interventions and telebehavioral health best practices with the other mental health professionals at my practicum. This was incredibly valuable when COVID-19 safety precautions were implemented, and all counseling staff had to transition to remote therapy practices.”

The statistics are staggering — more than 2 million Americans are battling opioid addiction, and Kentucky is currently ranked fifth in the United States for opioid overdose deaths. Not only are these figures likely underestimated, they also fail to capture the full extent of the damage of the epidemic.

The CoSW understands — preparing the next generation of mental health professionals is imperative for the Commonwealth and beyond.

“The OWEP stipend represented an opportunity for me to subsidize my education and access specialized training for telebehavioral health and substance abuse in rural areas," Chris Boyles, another participant, said. "Today, I am fortunate to apply that training while serving as an acute care social worker on an inpatient psychiatric unit at a rural hospital in northeast Kentucky.”

“Those battling substance use disorder require specialized treatment, which often includes counseling,” Benner said. “As the nation is grasping to help people achieve long-term sobriety, mental health professionals are taking on increased importance.”

Applications are now open for the 2020-21 academic year. For more information about "Building Substance Use Disorder Workforce Capacity in the Appalachia Region,” visit the CoSW website.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.