PATH (Peer Advanced Training in Harm reduction) is a workforce intervention that uses virtual education and case-based learning approaches to support PRSSs who deliver HR services. Building on this team's prior work in harm reduction support delivery and peer support services, this study will test PATH’s effectiveness at reducing PRSS burnout and (secondarily) improving service quality and service system outcomes. We will accomplish this by leveraging the current efforts of Indiana—a state that ranks high in overdoses and is accelerating substantially in methamphetamine use—to expand peer services. The study has the following aims: (Aim 1) develop stakeholder engagement to enhance PATH feasibility, sustainability, and scalability; (Aim 2) investigate PATH’s impact on workforce outcomes (with the primary outcome being burnout); (Aim 3) determine PATH’s impact on service system outcomes; (Aim 4) use a rigorous mixed methods approach to understand how processes initiated by PATH lead to observed outcomes. Following the stepped-wedge approach, 10 organizations delivering PRSS services will be assigned to one of five cohorts that will cross over into the intervention period (i.e., receive PATH) at different time points. This project’s success will result in a sustainable and replicable intervention for reducing burnout and improving service quality and service system outcomes among PRSSs. Supporting the PRSS workforce to deliver HR services can lead to considerable population health gains by reducing behaviors known to raise overdose risk, as well as risks related to the contraction, transmission, and progression of diseases associated with substance use.
