Department of Public Health faculty member and students focus on fighting addiction in rural communities through prevention
Professor Laurie Meschke is just one of member of a large cooperative of UT researchers, and community partners which is exploring health challenges faces by rural communities. Her work is part of the Combating Opioid Use in Rural Appalachia with Grace and Evidence (COURAGE) project. COURAGE is a HRSA supported project that brings together UT researchers, community partners, and local faith-based organizations to fight against and prevent opioid abuse. In addition to helping the community, the project also provides students in medical programs with opportunities to learn more about the care of patients fighting opioid dependency.
Laurie L. Meschke, MS, PHD
In her area of COURAGE, Professor Meschke and her students work with fifth graders in a Union County elementary school. Using the HOPE curriculum which she developed, Meschke and other members of COURAGE seek to break to the cycle of substance abuse thorough education and support. Additionally, local educators are taught to understand how substance abuse effects the adolescent brain in particular
You can find out more about Meschke’s COURAGE work, along with that being done by other COURAGE researchers across campus, on the Research, Innovation and Economic Development page.