Ohio University received a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help increase health providers in areas hit hardest by the opioid crisis.
The $1.3 million grant will allow Ohio University to train graduate students to become behavioral health providers in several Ohio counties – like Hocking, Perry and Ross – that have higher-than-average drug overdose rates.
"This will be to develop and have interprofessional teams train together in preparation to be behavioral health professionals in our region of the state," says Deborah Henderson, head of Ohio University’s School of Nursing. "The goal of the grant is to increase the number of behavioral health professionals prepared to work with the actual people who are facing substance use and opioid use disorders."
The graduate students involved are studying nursing, social work and counselor education.
Work funded by the grant will begin in September and end in 2022.
