Shatterproof, RIZE Massachusetts, and GE Foundation Release Survey on Massachusetts Healthcare Professionals and Stigma around Screening, Treating Patients with Opioid Use Disorder Research Finds that Stigma Around Addiction Extends to Provider Community

RIZE News

July 16, 2019

Today, GE Foundation, the philanthropic organization of GE; RIZE Massachusetts (RIZE), an independent nonprofit foundation working to end the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts; and Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing the course of the addiction crisis facing America, released the results of a year-long Massachusetts-wide project, “Opportunities to Increase Screening and Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder among Healthcare Professionals.” The goal of the white paper was to understand and identify opportunities to overcome stigmas that prevent certain healthcare providers from screening and treating patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) and close the treatment gap. The research found that stigma associated with OUD extends to the provider community, where a minority of providers are trained in addiction, find treating OUD satisfying, or want to work with OUD patients.

Financial support for this initiative came from GE Foundation and RIZE. The project consisted of both qualitative research and a quantitative survey. The Massachusetts Medical Society fielded the survey to their own members and led the coordinated effort with an additional 10 provider organizations to field the survey to their member base.

Shatterproof conducted the survey with healthcare professionals across the state of Massachusetts, focusing on three main areas: perceptions around OUD and managing patients with OUD, barriers to screening and treating patients with OUD, and interest in a wide range of potential programs to provide information or education to combat stigma and/or drive increased screening and treatment for OUD.

“This study shows just how powerful the stigma associated with addiction is,” said Julie Burns, the President and CEO of RIZE Massachusetts.  “It also provides essential information that will help us close gaps in coverage.  We are enormously grateful to the provider community for their candid participation in this project.”  In fact, a consortium of twelve Boston and Cambridge hospitals have already stepped forward with a commitment to educate thousands of caregivers to better care for patients with addiction and support thousands of staff who may be affected by substance use disorder (SUD) either themselves or in their families over the next year.

Following review of existing research and stigma reduction initiatives, as well as focus groups with patients, family members, and healthcare providers, and a thought leader roundtable discussion, Shatterproof developed the 15-minute quantitative online survey. The survey was targeted towards the primary project specialties – Emergency Medicine (EM), Family Medicine (FM)/Internal Medicine (IM), and OBGYN/Women’s Health – as well as addiction specialists, pediatric providers, psychiatry providers, and social workers, as a point of comparison.

Key survey findings among respondents include:

  • Only 1 in 4 providers had received training on addiction during medical education
  • Only 1 in 10 EM providers found caring for patients with OUD satisfying
  • Less than 50% of EM and FM/IM providers believed that OUD is treatable
  • Almost one third of providers with more than 20 years of tenure tended to have a stronger preference for not working with patients with OUD.
  • Almost half of providers felt patients would not be honest about their opioid use if asked directly
  • Less than 1/3 of EM, OBGYN/Women’s Health, or pediatric providers feel very prepared to screen, diagnose, provide brief intervention for, or discuss or provide treatment for OUD
  • 2x as many EM providers than any other specialty believe methadone treatment for OUD is substituting one addiction for another
  • 2 in 5 EM or FM/IM providers feel that treating patients with OUD takes away time and resources from other patients
  • More than 50% of Emergency Medicine, FM/IM, OBGYN/Women’s Health providers feel they don’t have sufficient access to behavioral health support to start patients on medication for addiction treatment.

These findings are consistent with those of the project’s qualitative work.

“We were honored to partner with GE Foundation, RIZE Massachusetts, and Massachusetts Medical Society to complete this important research that has provided much needed insight to the areas and opportunities of improvement for the education and preparedness of health care professionals,” said Gary Mendell, Founder & CEO, Shatterproof. “These findings will help continue to inform our work as we continue to create solutions that will reverse the course of the addiction crisis in America.”

The survey insights and learning were used to identify concrete opportunities for stigma-reduction programs and behavior change interventions across and within medical specialties, in order to increase screening and treatment of OUD.

As part of GE Foundation’s commitment to community health and to fighting the opioid crisis in Boston and across Massachusetts, this collaboration will ultimately result in a series of improved educational initiatives and programs to help more health care professionals screen and treat patients with OUD,” said David Barash, Executive Director, GE Foundation.

For detailed survey results read the report here.

 

Position Summary

Mosaic Opioid Recovery Partnership (Mosaic), funded by the MA Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services and powered by RIZE Massachusetts Foundation (RIZE), is a partnership like no other. It is a unique, public-private collaboration designed to support initiatives that are addressing the opioid overdose crisis in communities that have been historically underserved and have experienced a high rate of opioid-related overdose deaths.

The funding for Mosaic comes from the Massachusetts Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund (ORRF), which resulted from the historic legal effort to demand justice from several private companies for the harms caused by the opioid epidemic. This is one of the first public-private partnerships of this magnitude using settlement funds for community-led initiatives.

In partnership with BSAS and municipalities receiving opioid abatement funds, RIZE manages the Municipal Training and Technical Assistance (Muni TTA) Program. This program aligns with Mosaic’s mission to ensure that opioid abatement funds are invested and remain in the communities most deeply impacted by the crisis while also fueling transformative change through grassroots, community-led efforts.

The Muni TTA project manager provides project management, data, and operational support, ensuring the Muni TTA Program runs smoothly, is well documented, and is grounded in data. This role translates program strategy into concrete workplans, tracking systems, and reporting products, and provides day-to-day task direction to the program coordinator on project deliverables.

RIZE seeks someone for this position who is passionate about ending the overdose crisis and unafraid of new ideas. Success will require a positive, can-do, learning mindset and a collaborative, team-oriented approach. We are looking for candidates who understand how complex and interconnected issues, such as funding, data systems, and municipal government structures, intersect with addressing the overdose crisis.

The project manager supports the implementation of the Muni TTA workplan and Salesforce data infrastructure, coordinates monthly and quarterly reporting, provides project management support to four regional community advisory boards (CABs), and manages the logistics and content pipeline for the program's webinar series and newsletter. This position reports to the chief program officer (CPO) and works closely with the senior program officer (SPO).

 

Key Responsibilities

1. Workplan & Data Management

  • Oversee the Muni TTA workplan and Asana project management structure across six program goals: Proactive Outreach; Communications and Engagement; Quality Assurance and Team Development; Evaluation and Reporting; Intermunicipal Collaboration and Partnerships; and Community Advisory Boards. Monitor and keep progress, and identify risks or adjustments needed to keep deliverables on track
  • Set and monitor Salesforce data quality standards, oversee the Mosaic Muni TTA dashboard in coordination with the program coordinator, and produce reports; identify data quality issues and recommend adjustments to tracked metrics as the program evolves.
  • Monitor case documentation and tracking; compile monthly quality-review summaries for senior management review.
  • Support municipal capacity assessments by synthesizing results, identifying gaps, and helping the SPO draft action plans that reflect program priorities and municipal needs.

2. Reporting & Leadership Support

  • Compile regular qualitative reports, drafting the consolidated narrative of outcomes, barriers, and strategic adjustments for the SPO to finalize.
  • Develop regular progress updates, data summaries, and briefing materials for senior leadership, translating program activity and outcomes into clear talking points for internal review and external stakeholder discussions.
  • Coordinate senior leadership meeting preparation by identifying needed inputs, shaping agendas around key decisions, and ensuring materials are ready for review and follow-up. Coordinate post meeting follow-up.
  • Participate in cross-sector coordination meetings as needed to support data, reporting, or project management needs.

3. Community Advisory Board & Event Support

  • Provide project management for CAB implementation tracking progress and outcome metrics.
  • Direct administrative support for CABs, including materials preparation and outreach coordination.
  • Coordinate logistics, timelines, materials, follow-up, and slide preparation for regional and statewide presentations, meetings, and events.

4. Communications & Content Pipeline

  • Project-manage Mosaic TTA webinars: in coordination with the program coordinator maintain the topic and speaker pipeline, coordinate scheduling and logistics, and track post-session evaluations.
  • Project-manage Muni TTA bulletin and newsletter production, coordinating content collection, drafting, and oversee program coordinator with distribution timelines, and tracking engagement analytics.
  • Direct the program coordinator's development of training materials and slide decks; review for quality and program alignment before routing to senior leadership for approval.

 

Qualifications

Required

  • Strong organizational and time management skills
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, and virtual meeting platforms
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Preferred

  • Experience in public health, behavioral health, or harm reduction
  • Familiarity with workforce development initiatives
  • Experience supporting coalitions or multi-partner collaborations
  • Experience working with communities disproportionately impacted by substance use and overdose

Core Competencies

  • Commitment to harm reduction philosophy and health equity
  • Cultural humility and trauma-informed approach
  • Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
  • Strong interpersonal skills and collaborative mindset
  • High level of discretion and professionalism
  • Bachelor's degree in public health, public administration, business, or a related field and a minimum of five years of relevant experience; or a master's degree and a minimum of two years of experience.
  • Demonstrated project management experience, ideally within a public health, government, or nonprofit setting.
  • Strong data and systems management skills; experience with Salesforce, or a comparable CRM/database strongly preferred.
  • Experience managing workplans, timelines, and reporting cycles.
  • Experience with supervision preferred.
  • Excellent written communication skills, including experience drafting reports and briefing materials for review by senior staff.
  • Proficiency with Salesforce, Asana, Microsoft Office 365, and virtual conferencing platforms; familiarity with Canva, WordPress, and Constant Contact a plus.
  • Knowledge of the Massachusetts opioid settlement funding landscape and municipal government structures preferred.

Skills, Abilities, Attributes

  • Strong organizational skills and sound judgment in a fast-paced, small-team, collegial environment.
  • Comfortable managing competing priorities and shifting timelines with minimal oversight.
  • Demonstrated track record of sustained high-quality, independent work in fast-paced environments.
  • Effective relationship-builder able to coordinate across internal teams and external stakeholders.
  • Ability to exercise discretion in handling confidential or sensitive information.
  • Motivated by a keen sense of mission and values with a willingness to embrace and actively support RIZE's agenda.

Work Environment

The Municipal TTA project manager is a full-time, hybrid role. RIZE is in downtown Boston; travel, primarily in-state, will be required for meetings and events as needed. This role may require evening and occasional weekend work.

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