Engagement

 

Engaging local communities in Collective ACTION MODELS

The Roanoke Valley Collective Response to the Opioid and Addiction Crisis (RVCR) is one example of Central Appalachian groups that provide ORCCA with ongoing community input. The RVCR serves as ORCCA’s primary community advisory group. Spanning five major response sectors of prevention, treatment, connection to care, recovery, and child and family support services, RVCR is a collaboration of influencers and community leaders dedicated to finding sustainable solutions to the addiction crisis in the Roanoke Valley region and neighboring communities in Western and Central Virginia. Launched in September 2018, the response encompasses over 270 individual stakeholders and 130 organizations (as of 2/2020) representing law enforcement, Emergency Medical Services, healthcare, local and state government, education, community support organizations, faith community, business community, and individuals and families personally touched by addiction. The ORCCA Director, Dr. Horn, serves on the RVCR Steering Committee and is the founding co-chair, along with Janine Underwood, a member of ORCCA’s Leadership Advisory Board. Through this community advisory group to ORCCA increases assurances that community perspectives are integrated into all aspects of our research.

  • An important product that resulted from this partnership is a Blueprint for Action to abate the opioid crisis in one of our target regions. This Blueprint will serve as an important tool to guide our researchers in conducting research that aligns with community needs.

The East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Addiction Science Center Working Group is another ORCCA advisory group started in the Spring of 2012 as a small group of ETSU scholars, health professionals, elected officials, and other interested parties who came together to discuss the dramatic increase in prescription drug abuse and drug overdose death rates in the Appalachian Region. The Working Group, facilitated by the ETSU Addiction Science Center and ORCCA co-Director, Dr. Pack, now has more than 300 members and continues to meet monthly serving as a networking hub to inform opioid prevention and treatment and related research in the region. 

ORCCA aspires to help grow these types of collective action models across other Central Appalachian communities.