New Study Invites MA Residential Addiction Treatment Workers to Share Their Voices

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Re-SHAPE is a new research study to strengthen the workforce that powers residential addiction treatment in Massachusetts—and the team wants to hear directly from the people doing the work.

Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the study is led by researchers at Boston College School of Social Work and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) and the Recovery Homes Collaborative (RHC). Together, the team is developing a worker-led program that helps residential treatment facilities identify and improve the working conditions that most contribute to staff stress and turnover.

Re-SHAPE will bring workers and managers together to co-create practical action plans on issues like career progression, vicarious trauma, workload, scheduling, social connection, and workplace safety. Re-SHAPE’s goal is a more stable, supported, thriving workforce able to deliver the highest-quality care to people in recovery.

We want to hear from you

Currently, the research team is conducting confidential focus groups and one-on-one interviews with residential addiction treatment workers and managers across Massachusetts. These conversations will directly shape the Re-SHAPE program by surfacing job stressors that matter most to providers in the field.

We are looking to hearing from people in a range of roles—including recovery specialists and coaches, counselors, clinicians, case managers, supervisors, and program directors—at residential addiction treatment facilities.

What participation involves

  • A single 60–90 minute focus group or one-on-one interview (sign up here)
  • Held virtually on Zoom, at a time that works for you
  • Confidential—no identifying details will be shared with your employer or co-workers or outside the research team
  • $50 digital gift card of your choice provided as a thank-you for your time

Your insights will help improve working conditions for the addiction treatment workforce statewide—and, if effective, could serve as a leading model for other states facing the same workforce challenges.

To sign up

COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SHORT SURVEY: https://bostoncollege.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8krFoWG71FfOq0K 

This study is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and conducted in partnership with BSAS, the Recovery Homes Collaborative, Boston College, Harvard School of Public Health, and Washington University. If you have further questions, feel free to contact study team members Erika Sabbath (@email), Susan Peters (@email), or Beth Stelson (@email)