Opioid Use Disorder ECHO: A Program Evaluation of a Project That Provides Knowledge and Builds Capacity for Community Health Workers in Medically Underserved Areas of South Texas

Abstract

Opioid use disorder is a growing public health concern in South Texas. To assist in mitigating the effects of this epidemic, staff produced a program that focused on replicating, modifying, and evaluating the impact of the “Opioid Addiction Treatment ECHO™ (Extension of Community Health Outcomes) for CHWs (community health workers) program” on 26 CHWs practicing in rural and other medically underserved areas through teleconferencing technology. CHWs trained on the topic of substance use disorder concentrated on behavioral health integration with a focus on opioid prescription misuse. The analysis found that knowledge attainment was increased above the pretest means. The ECHO™ model proved to be effective at linking subject matter experts and specialists at an academic “hub” with CHWs in local communities.

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank the entire staff of the South Texas Area Health Education Center for their dedication, commitment, and effort in this program.

Disclosure statement

None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to declare.

Figure 1. Map of CHW-OUD ECHO hub and community spoke sites.

Table 1. Participant demographics (N = 26).

Table 2. Case presentation form for Mrs. Lopez.

Table 3. Case presentation clarifying questions from spokes and the hub.

Table 4. Case recommendations.

Table 5. Pre- and post-knowledge means, t-tests for significance (N = 24).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant U77HP03049-The South Texas AHEC Program.