Rural communities opioid response program ? Mental and behavioral health - the delaware rcorp behavioral health care support project will expand on the existing rcorp infrastructure in delaware to: 1)…

Rural communities opioid response program ? Mental and behavioral health - the delaware rcorp behavioral health care support project will expand on the existing rcorp infrastructure in delaware to: 1) strengthen care coordination and linkages to services, including mental health and related services for people engaged in behavioral health care; 2) facilitate access to services for populations who are underserved and/or less likely to engage in services (e.g., people with limited english language proficiency or digital literacy), and therefore more likely to suffer from poorer health outcomes, health disparities and other inequities; 3) strengthen the capacity of providers to care for patients utilizing evidence-based mental health and substance use treatment approaches; and 4) increase support for people facing addiction and CO-occurring mental health conditions by increasing community empathy, decreasing stigma, and increasing family and caregiver support. The project will increase access to mental health and behavioral health care, address barriers and needs related to the social determinants of health, and build peer relational supports for people with substance use disorder (SUD), opioid use disorder (OUD), and CO-occurring mental health issues. The initiative builds on ongoing efforts in rural sussex county to address SUD/OUD and/or CO-occurring mental disorder challenges. Activities will address structural- and systems-level barriers to improve rural residents' access to quality, integrated behavioral health care services. They also are designed to improve the quality and sustainability of services by training rural health care providers on evidence-based, trauma-informed SUD and other behavioral health care services. Finally, they will improve the capacity of the behavioral health care system in sussex county to address community risk factors and social determinants of health. This work will be led by the rural subcommittee of the delaware overdose system of care, a multi-sectoral consortium of 24 providers, public and private stakeholders and community members working to reduce morbidity and mortality related to SUD/OUD. The rural subcommittee is comprised of representatives from hospitals, health care providers, behavioral health providers, EMS, fire, law enforcement, schools, libraries and state agencies. The rural subcommittee coordinates efforts across the target rural service area and builds capacity in the region to address the full spectrum of behavioral health prevention, treatment, and recovery services. The project will be facilitated and administered by the delaware division of substance abuse and mental health (DSAMH), working with state agency and community partners. Major activities include: 1) a media campaign to promote programs that help people access the services they need, including library-based navigators with teleservices; 2) provide workshops that build mental health literacy and promote anti-stigma approaches among health care providers, family caregivers, and rural communities to better engage patients in prevention, recovery and treatment; 3) create a new mobile peer support team comprised of a certified peer specialist and a social worker, who will support primary care providers and share resources in the community; 4) build capacity for primary care providers to strengthen their linkages to behavioral health care via the peer recovery support team, CO-locating services, and telehealth; 5) train medical residents, students, and current providers to implement evidence-based practices, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing (MI), and screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACES), that reflect a person-centered, trauma informed approach; 6) develop materials in spanish and hattian creole to conduct outreach, to include agricultural migrant workers, and links to services in the target rural area.