Journal of Education & Social Policy

Mobilizing Rural Communities to Address Substance Use
Kristin Bailey-Wallace, MSW, LBSW, Assistant Professor

Abstract
Behavioral health care workers, social workers, and educators have an opportunity to learn about community-based research strategies from a recent grant project impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. The research team engaged a federally funded project aimed to reduce opioid deaths in rural communities, and the researchers have prior social work practice and other experience at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels in Texas, across the US, and across the globe. An urban health institute and a rural university collaborated with North East Texas communities for the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program Planning Initiative. The purpose of the initiative is to strengthen and expand the capacity of rural communities to provide prevention, treatment, and recovery services for opioid use disorder and to engage high-risk communities and populations. Strategies are explored for the mobilization of community groups and stakeholders to address substance use across multiple systems.

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