Rural Communities Opioid Response Program-Overdose Response - Funding Opportunity Number: HRSA-23-038 CFDA(s): 93.912 Applicant Name: Georgia Association for Primary Health Care, Inc. Descriptive Title of Applicant’s Project: Rural Communities Opioid Response Program–Overdose Response Project Director Name: Brenda Cibulas, Director of Behavioral Health Contact Phone Numbers (Voice): (678) 486-0971; (Fax): (404) 659-2801 Email Address: bcibulas@gaphc.org Web Site Address: www.georgiapca.org Grant Program Funds Requested in the Application: $300,000 Project Abstract: GAPHC is applying for funding to support immediate responses to the overdose crisis through improving access to, capacity for, and sustainability of prevention, treatment, and recovery services for substance use disorder (SUD) in a large rural area of GA including 19 counties: Appling, Atkinson, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bulloch, Candler, Coffee, Cook, Emanuel, Evans, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Montgomery, Screven, Tattnall, Toombs, Treutlen, and Wayne. All service area counties are eligible for rural health grants according to the HRSA Rural Health Grant Eligibility Analyzer (HRSA, 2023). Access to SUD and mental health treatment in this rural area is impeded by structural and systemic barriers, including a well-documented shortage of behavioral health care providers. More than a quarter (28.2%) of service area adults report no regular source of primary care, compared to 25.2% in GA and 22.4% nationwide. The preventable hospital event rate, an indicator of lack of access to regular sources of care, is 3,917 per 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries, compared to 3,503 in GA and 2,865 in the US (SparkMap, UOM Extension, 2022; UDS Mapper, 2022; US BRFSS, 2020). All 19 counties are designated health professional shortage areas for primary and mental health care, as well as designated medically underserved areas. GAPHC’s proposed service area has higher rates of mortality due to opioid-induced overdoses than the state average - 6.7 vs. 4.5. All drug-induced mortality in the service area continues to rise, from 10.4 in 2015 to 12.7 in 2020 ( per 100,000, age-adjusted; OASIS, GA Dept of Public Health, 2011-2015; 2016-2020). An estimated 18,830 individuals aged 12 and older in the service area have a SUD, including 2,170 youth. Of these, an estimated 1,620 have opioid use disorder (OUD) (National Survey on Drug Use & Health [based on state-wide estimates], SAMHSA, 2019). Between 2016 and 2020, 237 service area residents died from drug-induced causes, a 26% increase since the previous five-year period (OASIS, GA Dept of Public Health). Service area residents primarily identify as white (66.5%), while more than a quarter (26.7%) identify as Black or African American. Three percent or less of residents identify as Asian, American Indian/Alaska Native, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or multiracial (ACS, Census Bureau, 2016-2020). GAPHC especially seeks to reach groups who face restricted access to insurance and affordable care, including rural residents, Hispanic residents, MSAWs, veterans, minorities, women, recently released prisoners, and hourly wage and variable income workers. Through RCORP-Overdose Response funding, GAPHC will partner with East Georgia Healthcare Center (EGHC) and South Central Primary Care Center (SCPCC) to: purchase and distribute naloxone and fentanyl test strips; improve SUD and OUD care delivery sites by expanding EGHC’s chiropractic services as an alternative to opioid prescriptions; conduct training for providing SUD services, including trauma response; bolster the roles of case managers and community health workers at EGHC and SCPCC to increase screenings and patient education, and improve access to treatment for SUD/OUD; improve care for infectious diseases in order to reduce transmission; and increase the availability of community screenings for SUD/OUD, infectious diseases, and related medical, dental, and behavioral health conditions. GAPHC estimates that 5,220 individuals will be reached through this award.
