Meeting the Human Right of Healthcare Through a Diverse Paraprofessional Workforce

Overview: This presentation will focus on the Memphis Opioid Workforce Paraprofessional Expansion Program for undergraduate and graduate students from diverse disciplines. Training paraprofessionals to provide services to individuals experiencing substance use issues helps to increase their access to healthcare, a fundamental human right.Proposal text: Background/Rationale
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) a statement was released (2017) that every individual has the right to health which is a fundamental human entitlement. This right to health is central to the WHO’s mission that adequate healthcare should be accessible to everyone regardless of the services they need, when they need them, and one’s financial capacity. One aspect of healthcare is behavioral health, including services for opioid use and other substance use disorders.

The opioid epidemic continues to impact the nation, including Memphis, Shelby County, and the Midsouth region. In 2020 there were 416 suspected drug overdose-related deaths, 1,993 opioid-related ED visits, 3,986 reported suspect-overdose events, and 2,378 EMS naloxone administrations (Shelby County Health Department, n.d.). Many risk factors, including poverty, are associated with drug abuse, (NIDA, n.d.). The Midsouth, including Shelby County (16.8%) and the city of Memphis (21.7%) have higher poverty rates compared to the overall United States (12.3%) and these rates increase when broken down by age and race (Delavega & Blumenthal, 2020). Poverty rates for those under 18 for Shelby County (25.9%) and Memphis (35.0%) are above than national average (16.8%), as are rates race for Non-Hispanic Blacks: Shelby County (23.0%) and Memphis (26.1%) are all above the national average (21.2%) (Delavega & Blumenthal, 2020).

Given risk factors these risk factors, a workforce expansion initiative focused on training a diverse group of paraprofessionals to work in community-based settings that are meeting the various needs of individuals and families who are impacted by OUD and SUD has been implemented in this region. Expanding the paraprofessional workforce to help meet the needs in this area is one way we are working to increase the capacity of the workforce to address the OUD and SUD needs in the Midsouth.

Methods/Methodology
In 2019 the Memphis Opioid Workforce Paraprofessional Expansion Program (MOW-PEP) was funded through the Health and Resources Services Administration. The MOW-PEP program is in its third of three years and has graduated 83 undergraduate and graduate students from diverse disciplines across campus. There are currently 31 additional students enrolled in the program. Student trainees actively engage in completing course work, experiential community-based service learning, and attending an opioid summit. Students are evaluated using pre-test and post-test measures including attitudes towards working in health care teams and opioid knowledge.

Results
Preliminary data show an increase in skills and opioid knowledge. Data will be analyzed upon completion of the year three cohort to understand the change in attitudes and skills related to healthcare teams and opioid knowledge across all participants.

Conclusions
The MOW-PEP program continues to meet the human rights of healthcare by training a diverse paraprofessional workforce. This paraprofessional workforce is being trained to meet the human right of healthcare This diverse paraprofessional workforce increases the number of trained workers who are equipped to meet the healthcare needs of individuals seeking to obtain services to meet their human right of adequate healthcare related to opioid use and other substance use disorder.