Name
PS3 - Behavioral Health Professionals as Advocates for Local Health Policy Change
Date & Time
Saturday, October 18, 2025, 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Location Name
Ballroom A
Description

Our speakers are a psychologist-turned-county commissioner and counselor-turned-policy entrepreneur. In this talk, they will describe their partnership in bringing best practice policy for opioid abatement settlement funding to impact in their home in Southern Appalachia. They will show how their story aligns with models for policy dissemination, discuss how other health professionals can turn into advocates, and provide timely information on the disbursement of opioid abatement funds to the recovery ecosystem.

Speakers
Angela Hagaman DrPH, Co-Director, Addiction Science Center and Research Assistant Professor, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
Angela Hagaman
Tags
Opioid management, Rural
Session Type
Plenary
Objective 1
Explore the models and methods of research dissemination to local decision makers, unique to rural Appalachia, but made applicable to anywhere.
Objective 2
Discuss the role of the health care community in facilitating the dissemination of evidence to local impact
Objective 3
Describe the opioid epidemic/policy around the disbursement of opioid abatement funds to the recovery ecosystem;
Content Reference 1

Ritchie, M.J., Parker, L.E. & Kirchner, J.E. From novice to expert: a qualitative study of implementation facilitation skills. Implement Sci Commun 1, 25 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-020-00006-8

Content Reference 2

Douglas, J.W., Radula, R., & Hartley, R. E. (2015). Shifting Constellations of Actors and Their Influence on Policy Diffusion: A Study of the Diffusion of Drug Courts, The Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 43, No. 4, 2015

Content Reference 3

Polaha, J., & Sunderji, N. (2018). A vision for the future of Families, Systems, & Health: Focusing on science at the point of care delivery. Families, Systems, & Health, 36(4), 423-426.

Content Reference 4

Zerhouni, E., (2003). The NIH Roadmap. Science, 302(5642), 63-72.

Content Reference 5

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health (2025). The principles for the use of funds from the opioid litigation. https://opioidprinciples.jhsph.edu/?ref=header-logo