PROSPER

July 2020 – November 2022

Funded under two U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cooperative agreements with the Maryland Department of Health

The purpose of this project is to provide expertise that will help the State of Maryland develop a durable and sustainable set of resources to support employees and employers related to opioid use and recovery in the workplace. Workplace PROSPER will expand the team’s reach to include increased collaboration with employers, health and behavioral health providers, and worker advocates across the State, strengthening existing and building new partnerships that leverage the expertise and perspectives of the wide range of Stakeholders who care about this issue. These resources specifically respond to the needs of employees and employers related to opioid use and recovery at work.

The overall goals of this project are to improve workplace safety, prevent opioid overdoses, increase access to treatment for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), and promote non-discriminatory work practices for employees recovering from OUD. These priorities were identified during a conference convened by the Maryland Department of Health and held in November 2018, with results available in the report, Opioids in the Maryland Workplace: Challenges and Solutions (August, 2019).

July 2023-June 2024

Funded by the Maryland’s Office of Opioid Response (MOOR)

The construction industry has the highest risk for opioid-related overdose death (OROD) but has not embraced naloxone education and distribution to its workforce. The UMB team will collaborate with the Maryland Department of Health and industry partners to deliver naloxone education to construction industry employers using a CDC-recommended academic detailing model (one-on-one meetings to promote the program, solicit agreement and schedule the trainings and distribution). We will engage construction business and labor stakeholders to network and make contact for naloxone detailing. We will measure engagement attempts and successes, number of naloxone training sessions delivered, and number of construction workers trained and receiving naloxone, whether provided by the State or purchased by the employing organization.

January 2022 – October 2023

Funded by the IRIS program (Innovations in Recovery through Infrastructure Support)

The low workforce participation of individuals with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is a well-established problem and is one of the focus areas of the IRIS grant. A common addressable deficit in these individuals is a lack of “soft skills” – the communication, planning, people and problem-solving skill development necessary for successful employment, which is often put on hold when actively using substances.

Potential Role of Online Skills Preparation for Employment in Recovery (PROSPER/Online Skills) is designed to enhance treatment outcomes of individuals with OUD by facilitating workforce participation, which has been shown to increase treatment retention and recovery success. PROSPER/Online Skills studies the feasibility and value of delivering online employment skills education among peer coaches in a local substance use treatment facility, providing needed content based on identified individual needs as identified by an employment barriers assessment tool.

August 2019 – April 2020

Funded by two funding streams: 1) University of Maryland, Baltimore Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) Accelerated Translational Incubator Pilot (ATIP) grant and 2) University of Maryland, Baltimore Center for Addiction Research, Education, and Service (CARES) Science to Systems Grant

Operation PROSPER studied the barriers to employment participation among patients receiving medication for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) in UMMC treatment centers. We conducted structured interviews of patients receiving methadone or buprenorphine, using several validated instruments as well as the Barriers to Employment Success Inventory, a commonly used assessment tool:

• The Injustice Experience Questionnaire
• The Symptom Catastrophizing Scale
• The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Scale
• The Quality of Life, Enjoyment and Satisfaction Scale
• The Customized Employment Supports Interview
• The Pain Disability Index
• The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index

We also conducted analysis related to work barriers using data from two large existing datasets from intake for patients entering treatment for OUD.

Finally, we conducted focus groups to understand the perspectives of several different types of people working with patients with OUD: peer specialists, treatment providers, workforce development professionals and employers.