University of Utah

Rural communities in Utah are at risk of higher rates of substance use disorder (SUD) and have unique behavioral health needs. Access to SUD and Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) prevention, treatment, and behavioral health recovery services are limited due to lack of providers and geographical isolation. The Utah Rural Opioid Healthcare Consortium – Collaborative Care Model (UROHC-CCM) brings existing and new partners together to build sustainable models for SUD/OUD prevention, treatment, and recovery in three rural Utah counties. UROHC-CCM’s activities match with the RCORP-BHS goals directly through intentional plans: 1. To develop health professions workforce capacity in Utah. An annual Rural SUD Student Summit will train health professions students from Utah colleges and universities in topics of rural health, as well as SUD prevention, treatment and recovery. The Summit will address structural- and systems-level barriers to improve rural residents’ access to SUD and behavioral health care services by increasing the workforce capacity. 2. To prepare and sustain interprofessional rural primary care SUD treatment teams. UROHC-CCM will train six rural primary care clinic RN and provider teams to utilize a collaborative care model (CCM) for office-based addiction treatment. Interprofessional clinic teams will be trained and supported by a rural SUD Project ECHO. 3. To support rural communities in providing SUD risk prevention and treatment. UCRH/SUAHEC, USU extension, USARA and AUCH will build on SUD resources already in place in the three rural counties to address community risk factors and social determinants of health that affect behavioral health of rural residents. Programs to address these factors include Mental Health First Aid training, peer recovery services, and Strengthening Families programs.