Georgia Southern’s Center for Addiction Recovery receives major funding from Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust
Georgia is in the midst of an opioid crisis. However, widespread implementation of public health interventions is creating a positive impact, with opioid overdose deaths declining sharply in the state since mid-2023. Georgia Southern University’s Center for Addiction Recovery, housed in the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health (JPHCPH), continues to be involved in translational research, helping Georgia respond to this public health emergency. The program has received nearly $800,000 in funding across four projects through Georgia’s Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust. The work officially begins this month and will continue over the next two years.
The research team includes Robert Bohler, Ph.D., and William Mase, DrPH, from the Department of Health Policy and Community Health in the JPHCPH, and Ryan Lofaro, Ph.D., from the Department of Public and Nonprofit Studies in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. The four projects include:
-A two-year initiative to help critical access hospitals in rural areas of Georgia better respond to the opioid crisis in their communities;
-An 18-month training program to help recovery community organizations enhance the operation of their nonprofit organizations;
-A one-year research project to generate foundational knowledge on harm reduction services in Georgia;
-A two-year project to fund the enhancement of the collegiate recovery program at Georgia Southern.
There are 30 critical access hospitals across Georgia playing a crucial role in providing health care services in rural communities, including addiction prevention and treatment. The critical access hospital project, led by Mase, aims to improve these rural hospitals’ response to the opioid crisis and other substance-related issues by increasing prescription opioid safety and providing users with evidence-based addiction treatment. Specific attention will be given to opioid education, prevention, treatment and harm-reduction strategies in Georgia’s rural communities served by this network.
“Our established relationships with critical access hospital leadership statewide provide an opportunity to promote positive change concerning opioid use and overdose prevention,” Mase said. “We are honored to have been selected by Georgia’s Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust to do this important work to improve the well-being of community residents and reduce the financial and capacity strain placed on the state’s rural hospital network.”
Recovery community organizations like Freedom Through Recovery in Statesboro offer vital recovery support services to individuals with substance use disorders. The recovery community organization project, led by Lofaro in collaboration with Tina Patterson, Ph.D., Candice Bodkin, Ph.D.. and Cary Christian, Ph.D., from the Department of Public and Nonprofit Studies, aims to develop and implement a training and education series for organization directors and staff in Georgia. The goal of the initiative is to enhance skills related to managing organizational operations and services for individuals with opioid use disorder.
“Recovery community organizations do truly inspiring addiction and recovery work in our communities,” Lofaro said. “We hope to survey and interview directors about their organizational management needs, then apply our expertise to develop targeted training programs and a report with best practices.”
He added that their goal is to complement their knowledge in addiction and recovery with nonprofit management skills.
Harm reduction services, such as distributing naloxone to reverse an opioid overdose, are a critical component in addressing the opioid crisis. The harm reduction project, led by Bohler, aims to map harm reduction services in Georgia, with a particular focus on rural areas. In addition, the project will document state and local policies that may hinder or facilitate access to these services and examine the state’s harm reduction workforce through a statewide survey.
“Harm reduction services save lives and can be an important touchpoint to link people to addiction treatment and other services,” Bohler said. “Our project will help us better understand these services in Georgia and provide actionable recommendations for their expansion.”
Collegiate recovery programs offer services, resources, community and programming for students to ensure they are able to both sustain their recovery and complete their education. Georgia Southern has had a collegiate recovery program since 2008. The new funding through Georgia’s Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust will sustain and enhance services offered to students. It will also help promote the program so that current and future college students at Georgia Southern can benefit.
“The collegiate recovery program at Georgia Southern has played a huge role in my success as a student, graduate assistant and a person in recovery,” said Tom Harris, a Master of Public Health student and member of the collegiate recovery program. “This new funding will expand access to the support and resources students need to thrive in these areas.”
Bohler has had the chance to watch multiple students involved in this program flourish by getting their college degrees, then going on to build successful careers.
“I am excited that we will be able to continue to offer these opportunities to current and future college students in recovery so that they can experience the same successes,” he said.
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