Rural Health
News by Topic: Substance use and misuse
Jan 21, 2025 - Request for comments on a draft of the Mobile Crisis Team Services: An Implementation Toolkit. The document offers guidance and resources to plan, implement, and maintain mobile crisis teams supporting mental health and substance use-related behavioral health crises and includes rural-specific considerations. Comments are accepted through March 21, 2025.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Jan 17, 2025 - Notice of final rule from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) authorizing the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare practitioners acting within the scope of their VA employment to prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine to a VA patient with whom they have not conducted an in-person medical evaluation. VA practitioners can prescribe controlled substances to VA patients if another VA practitioner has previously conducted an in-person medical evaluation of the VA patient at any time, subject to certain conditions. This final rule is effective February 18, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Jan 17, 2025 - Notice of final rule from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) amending their regulations to increase access to buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorders (OUD) through a telemedicine encounter. This rule expands the circumstances under which individual providers are authorized to prescribe buprenorphine for OUD via telemedicine, including an audio-only telemedicine encounter. This final rule is effective February 18, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Jan 15, 2025 - Announces a new grant to combat the opioid epidemic in rural Georgia by training, supporting, and compensating 50 rural pharmacists in dispensing naloxone in addition to community education regarding local resources. Describes increases in overdose deaths and the use of fentanyl in Georgia.
Source: UGA Today
Jan 13, 2025 - Outlines the findings of a new study on the relationship between opioid use and homelessness in rural populations. Discusses the difficulty of accurately counting the number of homeless individuals in rural areas, and how this can lead to inadequate allocations of funding and resources.
Source: Georgia State University News
Jan 10, 2025 - Analyzes Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data to discuss alcohol habits by region and rurality. Notes the challenges with measuring alcohol habits in surveys relying on self-reported health measures.
Source: The Daily Yonder
Jan 9, 2025 - Discusses stigma and the gaps in support for people who are both homeless and drug users in a rural Missouri community.
Source: Public News Service
Dec 22, 2024 - Features harm reduction efforts by the Choctaw Nation in rural Oklahoma, funded through an Indian Health Service Community Opioid Intervention Pilot Project grant. Describes the implementation of a multi-pronged approach including street-level naloxone distribution and training, expanded availability of medication-assisted treatment, and support for culturally-relevant recovery services.
Source: Native News Online
Dec 21, 2024 - Describes rising numbers of cardiovascular disease-related deaths among rural working-age adults. Explores a variety of factors contributing to rural-urban cardiovascular disparities, including elevated rates of opioid use and limited health care access in many rural communities. Discusses efforts by a research network to develop rural-specific solutions to increase access to cardiovascular care.
Source: NBC News
Dec 13, 2024 - Announces a major update to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Mapping Broadband Health in America platform. Notes that the tool can be used to analyze data at the intersection of broadband connectivity and a range of public health challenges, now including maternal morbidity and mortality.
Source: Federal Communications Commission