Faculty mentor/PI email address
jermynrt@rowan.edu
Is your research Teaching and Learning based?
1
Keywords
Psychiatry, Mental Health, Addiction, Social Work, Therapy, Education
IRB or IACUC Protocol Number
PRO-2025-131
Date of Presentation
5-6-2026 12:00 AM
Poster Abstract
Background: Certified Peer Recovery Specialists (CPRS) and Community Health Workers (CHWs) expand access to behavioral health and social care through training, credentialing, and community-based support. Although these programs improve knowledge, skills, and workforce readiness, retention and completion remain important barriers to program scale-up. Evidence on predictors of successful completion in dual-role CPRS/CHW pathways is limited.
Objective: To identify participant, programmatic, and contextual factors associated with successful completion of the Rowan-Virtua Dual CPRS/CHW Program.
Methods: This work-in-progress combines a focused literature review with ongoing program analysis. The review examined English-language studies from 2010 onward related to CPRS and CHW training, program evaluation, implementation, retention, attrition, and completion. Findings from the literature were used to inform planned multivariable analyses of Rowan-Virtua program data using R, SPSS, and Excel. Candidate predictors include attendance, mentorship exposure, delivery modality, employment demands, prior role experience, and structural barriers such as transportation and work hours.
Results: Existing literature suggests that structured training is feasible, acceptable, and consistently improves knowledge, self-efficacy, and role clarity. Multi-site implementation studies further indicate that pre-implementation facilitation, mentorship, and refresher training may improve fidelity, preparedness, and service delivery. Across studies, modifiable factors associated with trainee performance and persistence include attendance, mentorship dose, refresher exposure, and mitigation of structural barriers. However, little U.S. evidence isolates predictors of completion and time-to-completion in dual-role CPRS/CHW programs.
Conclusions: Identifying modifiable predictors of completion may inform targeted program improvements, strengthen retention, and support growth of the CPRS/CHW workforce in underserved communities.
Disciplines
Medical Education | Medicine and Health Sciences
Included in
Determinants of Successful Completion in the Rowan-Virtua Dual CPRS/CHW Program: Literature Review & A Work in Progress
Background: Certified Peer Recovery Specialists (CPRS) and Community Health Workers (CHWs) expand access to behavioral health and social care through training, credentialing, and community-based support. Although these programs improve knowledge, skills, and workforce readiness, retention and completion remain important barriers to program scale-up. Evidence on predictors of successful completion in dual-role CPRS/CHW pathways is limited.
Objective: To identify participant, programmatic, and contextual factors associated with successful completion of the Rowan-Virtua Dual CPRS/CHW Program.
Methods: This work-in-progress combines a focused literature review with ongoing program analysis. The review examined English-language studies from 2010 onward related to CPRS and CHW training, program evaluation, implementation, retention, attrition, and completion. Findings from the literature were used to inform planned multivariable analyses of Rowan-Virtua program data using R, SPSS, and Excel. Candidate predictors include attendance, mentorship exposure, delivery modality, employment demands, prior role experience, and structural barriers such as transportation and work hours.
Results: Existing literature suggests that structured training is feasible, acceptable, and consistently improves knowledge, self-efficacy, and role clarity. Multi-site implementation studies further indicate that pre-implementation facilitation, mentorship, and refresher training may improve fidelity, preparedness, and service delivery. Across studies, modifiable factors associated with trainee performance and persistence include attendance, mentorship dose, refresher exposure, and mitigation of structural barriers. However, little U.S. evidence isolates predictors of completion and time-to-completion in dual-role CPRS/CHW programs.
Conclusions: Identifying modifiable predictors of completion may inform targeted program improvements, strengthen retention, and support growth of the CPRS/CHW workforce in underserved communities.