WVXU: UC gets federal grant to help fight the opioid crisis

September is Recovery Month, a time to increase awareness and understanding about substance use disorders and celebrate people in recovery. UC will use a $1.3 million federal grant to improve the training for students pursuing careers as behavioral health professionals focused on opioid use and other substance use disorders. 

Shauna Acquavita of the School of Social Work in the College of Allied Health Sciences, Michael Brubaker of the Counseling Program in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services and Angela Clark of the College of Nursing discussed the grant and the overall opioid crisis in the region on Cincinnati Edition on WVXU. 

“Even though our region has made significant gains in the number of behavioral health practitioners we employ, they are often ill-prepared to work effectively across professions, especially in settings that provide medication-assisted treatment,” says Brubaker, the grant's principle investigator.

Over three years, 48 counseling, social work and nursing students will be trained to effectively deliver evidence-based collaborative care to those with or at risk of opioid use disorders, especially children, adolescents and transitional-aged youth.

Lead image courtesy The Drug Users Bible