Understanding and Assessing Rural Recovery Ecosystems

Monday, April 18, 2022

2:30 PM – 3:45 PM ET

Location: International Ballroom F

Presenter(s)

Michael B. Meit, MA, MPH

Director of Research and Programs
Center for Rural Health Research, East Tennessee State University
Member, Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit Advisory Board
Johnson City, Tennessee
Robert Pack, PhD, MPH

Director, ETSU/NORC Rural Health Equity Research Center & ETSU Addiction Science Ctr
College of Public Health, East Tennessee State University
ETSU College of Public Health
JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee
David Johnson, MSW, ACSW

CEO
Fletcher Group, Inc
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Grant Meyer, MUP, AICP, LEED AP

VP, Project Development
Fletcher Group, Inc.
Lexington, Kentucky

Moderator(s)

Michael B. Meit, MA, MPH

Director of Research and Programs
Center for Rural Health Research, East Tennessee State University
Member, Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit Advisory Board
Johnson City, Tennessee

Robust recovery ecosystems provide an environment where individuals can access substance use treatment and recovery support services such as housing and second chance employment, among others. With support from the Fletcher Group, as part of their Rural Community Opioid Response Program (RCORP) Center for Excellence funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, NORC at the University of Chicago and East Tennessee State University College of Public Health are developing a rural recovery ecosystem index to measure the relative strength of rural county-level recovery ecosystems. The rural recovery ecosystem index will be incorporated within an interactive mapping tool to provide access to recovery ecosystem data for community partners to support community planning, programming, and technical assistance designed to strengthen recovery ecosystems throughout the rural United States.

This session will highlight factors present in strong rural recovery ecosystems, provide examples of recovery ecosystem supports implemented in eastern Kentucky, describe the initial development of the rural recovery ecosystem index, and highlight long-term plans for implementation and rollout of the rural recover ecosystem index.

Learning Objectives:

List aspects of a strong recovery ecosystem
Describe best practices in terms of establishing a recovery ecosystem, based on experiences in Kentucky and lessons from other areas that have improved alignment of recovery support services
Assess the strength of a county-level recovery ecosystem using a rural recovery ecosystem index