Chase Harless, MSW

Honors and Awards

Hope Scholarship
2009-2013,

Service Learning Award for Outstanding Student Achievement
2018, Western Carolina University

Research Activities

Research & Scholarly Activity

Lead Evaluator

Evaluation of Buncombe County and Western North Carolina Community Schools, 2022-2025. United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County. Evaluation of successes and opportunities of growth for community school programs in Buncombe County. Co-PI Kathy A. Foley, PhD.

Increasing Workplace Capacity for Medication-Assisted Treatment, 2019 – current. The purpose of this contract is to conduct technical training and provide community-level technical assistance with medical residency programs on medication-assisted treatment (MAT) waiver training through the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) to expand North Carolina’s capacity to provide treatment for opioid use disorder and reduce opioid-related deaths.

Toe River Advocates for Community Education and Support (TRACES), 2018-2019. Evaluating TRACES effectiveness in providing peer support services in rural Western North Carolina counties. Program Director, Idania Garcia, MSW, Mountain Area Health Education Center

Rural Fellowship Experiences, unfunded, 2018-2022. Lead the development and efforts of a qualitative evaluation of rural fellowships. Co-PIs Benjamin Gilmer, MD and Bryan Hodge, MD.

Evaluation Member Projects

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians MAPP 2.0 Pilot Evaluation. 2022. Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Health and Human Services and Western North Carolina Healthy Impact. Evaluation of EBCI community’s needs and perceptions of public health services within their communities.

Increasing Workplace Capacity for Medication-Assisted Treatment Through Residency Programs. 2018-2019. NCDHHS (subcontract from the CDC). Evaluating institutional factors in statewide uptake of medication-assisted treatment prescribing trainings for medical residency, nurse practitioner, and physician assistant programs. Larger Project Director, Ana Cabello DeLaGarza, MSW, Mountain Area Health Education Center.

Rural Communities Opioid Response Project, 2018-2019. HRSA. Evaluating Planning Grant project to address rural opioid and substance use issues, with a Consortium led by an FQHC, with three rural county health departments, healthcare providers and referral agencies, and medical education entities. Larger Project Director, Sarah Tennyson, Appalachian Mountain Community Health Centers.

Key Publications

Implementation of Transgender/Gender Nonbinary Care in a Family Medicine Teaching Practice. Ulrich IP, Harless C, Seamon G, Kim A, Sullivan L, Caldwell J, Reed L, Knoll H. (2022). J Am Board Fam Med, 35(2), 235-243.

Barriers to Treating Opioid Use Disorder Remain for Advanced Practice Providers. Hughes, P., Harless, C., Ramage, M., Fusco, C., Ostrach, B. (2022). North Carolina Medical Journal, in press.

Eligible Prescriber Experiences with Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Perceptions of Pharmacy Barriers to Buprenorphine. Harless, C., Hughes, P., Wilson, C., Carpenter, D., Ostrach, B. (2022).

Hepatitis C and HIV Screening, Testing, and Risk Perceptions among South-Central Appalachian County Health Department Staff. Harless C, Lugo B, Ostrach B. (2022). South Med J., 115(7), 422-428.

Education