R-NetWORC
Resilient Network of Workforce and Opioid-focused Rural Community-Organizations
Our Mission
To go beyond current opioid coalition efforts as we will be purposefully applying organizational science, workforce development strategy, and systems engineering to assist rural communities in developing an R-NetWORC Center to combat OUD. Specifically, we propose to help organize and assess the impacts of a deeply-connected community center, with the inclusion of direct input from community stakeholders including but not limited to manufacturing businesses, healthcare entities, law enforcement agents, and local and state government officials.
Plan of Action
Funding will make it possible for the leadership team and our partners to solve problems impacting the often underserved rural population stemming from Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). The figure presents a high-level causal structure view of the wicked problem we propose to impact with our inclusion of the proposed R-NetWORC system. This problem will be addressed in the following two stages.
Stage 1 (Planning Phase): Bring diverse stakeholders together to build a shared-ownership and comprehensive network structure called Resilient Network of Workforce-Opioid Rural Community-organizations (R-NetWORC) through novel application of integrated change management models, and community engagement models.
Stage 2 (Transferability, Scalability, and Sustainability Phase): Identify and evaluate innovative approaches at various stakeholder sites (e.g., recovery friendly workplaces (RFW)) both within the local community and other rural communities using a unique combination of systems engineering modeling along with data analytic capabilities of AI/Machine Learning (ML).
Research Questions
Stage One:
Q1: How can local communities develop resilient support structures consisting of multiple stakeholders to provide long-term employment opportunities for OUD impacted population of the community?
Q2: How do we develop and test innovative employment approaches for recruitment and retention of people with OUD and in recovery?
Q3: How can workforce planning and community health strategies be employed as a systematic process for identifying and addressing the skills gaps and OUD crisis in the community?
Stage Two:
Q4: How can the knowledge and lessons learned from one local rural community be transferred/adapted/scaled/sustained for application in other rural communities?
Q5: What is the impact of RFWs to enhance rural communities’ efforts to address the opioid crisis? How can policies and initiatives be shaped in a community to promote RFWs?