The goal of this page is to provide the most important points from policies and articles, review our project summaries, and provide updates on various health measures.
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Evaluation of Ballad Health’s PEERhelp Program
In collaboration with Ballad Health, a team of researchers at the CRHR to evaluate the impacts of Ballad Health’s PEERhelp program. The program was designed to provide support to individuals being released from prisons with a history of substance use disorder. Through benchmarks, goal setting, and support for a variety of health-related social needs, the ultimate goal of the program is gainful employment 1 year after release. In addition to measuring gainful employment, the evaluation is being designed to measure the following outcomes: program participation, financial stability, recovery, healthcare utilization, employment, and recidivism.
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Development of a Rural Recovery Ecosystem Index
Funded by the Fletcher Group as part of their Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) Technical Assistance Center, CRHR is collaborating with the ETSU Addiction Science Center and NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis to develop indicators to measure the strength of rural, county-level substance use disorder recovery ecosystems throughout the US. The index will be integrated into an interactive mapping tool to support planning, programming, and technical assistance efforts.
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Evaluation of a Program funded through the Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (WORC) Initiative
CRHR is serving as an external evaluator for a US Department of Labor grant received by a partnership among Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD), Bristol’s Promise, and CRHR. ASD’s Groundwork program focuses on training individuals with barriers to employment, while Bristol’s Promise’s Bristol Connect program provides resources to support frontline employees in the workplace. This project is an innovative, sustainable partnership that aligns ASD’s workforce development activities with Bristol’s Promise’s economic development strategy. CRHR is evaluating the program and assessing its impact on the region.
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ETSU/NORC Rural Health Equity Research Center
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The ETSU/NORC Rural Health Equity Research Center is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. The Center’s mission is to develop strategies and recommendations for policy makers, rural healthcare providers and rural communities to mitigate the individual and community-level impacts of substance use disorder (SUD), improve access to healthcare and social services, and improve population health.
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Strong Accountable Care Community
Serves as CRHR’s representative on this 300+ member regional, multi-sector collective impact model. The ACC is made up of organizations which will work on a common agenda to improve the ability of Appalachian Highlands children to be college and career ready and better position them for optimal health outcomes.
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Strong Starts Universal Screening and Navigation
CRHR’s representative in collaboration with Ballad on their central intervention effort to optimize the clinical environment to assess all families for ACEs, environmental, and social needs risk, and to navigate them effectively to best practice community based interventions.
Perinatal Intervention: Focus on health-related social needs by linking perinatal women to CHW support for guidance throughout the pre- and post-partum periods
- Perinatal Study Design: Research on effective CHW navigation of services for families in the Appalachian Highlands
- Community Based Solutions: Review of community based organizations in the Appalachian Highlands to develop or fill identified gaps in services; Creating a resource inventory of perinatal focused outlets in the Ballad footprint
- Longitudinal Study Design: Research focused on identifying gaps in existing programs; lowering the cost of care through CHW models of navigation; following families throughout generations to assess social and health determinant needs throughout life cycles
- Longitudinal Database: Creation of a cooperative data repository to better understand health improvement opportunities for families and children
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Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI)
The UNICEF Child Friendly Cities Initiative is an international project taken on by cities to improve the health and well-being of their children. The Center is working with Johnson City community leaders and other ETSU researchers to understand gaps in services to support children within our community. The Center directs research and data collection efforts and will provide a summary assessment to the UNICEF team as part of a collaborative action plan to address highlighted issues. Upon completion of the action plan, Johnson City, TN will be the smallest city in the United States to carry the designation of “UNICEF Child Friendly City”.