In September 2021, Rural Health, Inc. was awarded the RCORP Implementation Grant. This grant aims to reduce the morbidity and mortality of Substance use disorders (SUD), such as Opioid Use Disorders (OUD), in high risk rural areas. This will advance RCORP’s overall goal by strengthening and expanding SUD/OUD prevention, treatment, and recovery services to enhance rural residents’ ability to access treatment and move towards recovery.

Rural Health and the consortium it leads have developed a strategic plan to address the intersection of opioid used disorder (OUD) and meth use disorder (MUD) and how these prevalent addictions are impacting children, mostly due to parental drug use. The project area is Union, Massac, and Johnson counties and these are located in the southern third of the state of Illinois, also known as “Little Egypt.” This is a socioeconomic depressed region, and transportation difficulties arise for many people.

Rural Health, Inc started the Medication Assisted Treatment Program for Opiate Dependence in April 2017. RHI’s MAT program utilizes medication while also addressing other factors that may play a role in substance use through therapy. Research has shown that medication in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies can successfully treat substance use disorders, and for some people struggling with addiction, MAT can help sustain recovery. MAT is also used to prevent and reduce opioid overdoses.

Rural Health currently has 11 licensed providers and 9 of those are actively prescribing medication for MAT. Our MAT program is offered at each of our 5 locations across Union, Massac, and Johnson counties. We typically have 150-170 patients receiving treatment at any given time and we always attempt to get patients into treatment in a timely manner. Frequent appointments and drug screens are used to provide patients with structure and accountability, both being vital to sustaining recovery.

Untreated substance use contributes to thousands of deaths every year. Medication Assisted Treatment and counseling are both effective tools to treat SUD/OUD, however they are not being utilized widely enough, and many people who could benefit do not even seek them out. Stigma surrounding substance use creates a barrier to treatment and blames the individual for their circumstances. We have included a community wide stigma campaign in our RCORP work plan. Through this campaign we intend to bring awareness to this topic, provide education, resources, and ultimately reduce the stigma surrounding substance use.

Overall, the goal of RCORP-Implementation grant is to create a collective community response to implement the strategic plan. This overarching goal contains the following sub-goals: