The Virginia Rural Health Association was one of 10 rural health organizations selected to receive Rural Health Opioid Program (RHOP) funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). This award will allow VRHA to develop a protocol and resources for a High-Risk Patient Education Program (HRPEP).
HRPEP will assist Virginia’s rural hospitals and clinics with providing education on the hazards of opioid use to patients who might be at a high risk of developing an opioid related substance use disorder. Providers will also learn how to teach patients to correctly respond to an opioid overdose.
Facilities will receive a smart device equipped to deliver a brief screening and intervention known as e-SBI (electronic screening and brief intervention). Overdose rescue kits will also be supplied for patients and family members who have received the overdose response education, and contain: rescue breathing masks, rubber gloves, an educational insert, and information on how to obtain naloxone.
VRHA will be traveling to each participating site in order to train clinic staff in the protocol to implement HRPEP. Sites will also receive “train-the-trainer” instruction, which will allow clinics to provide future staff trainings in-house.
Participation in this program is free of charge and sites will be included on a first come, first serve basis. We currently have the funding to include 29 facilities.
If your clinic would like to be included in this opportunity, please contact:
Mindy Thorpe, Program Coordinator
mindy@vrha.org
(540) 231-3899
Southwest Virginia Graduate Medical Education Consortium 