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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Illicit drug use

Tracking Federal Funding to Combat the Opioid Crisis
Features a report tracking the federally funded programs aimed at addressing the opioid crisis for the fiscal years 2017-2018. Highlights examples in five states where it compares total money spent by department on opioid treatment and reduction, as well as the number of opioid related deaths.
Date: 03/2019
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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STOP Playbook: How Health Plans Are Tackling the Opioid Crisis
Offers strategies used by health plans to address opioid misuse through the Safe, Transparent Opioid Prescribing (STOP) Initiative, which focuses on improving prescribing patterns and practices. Includes strategies and examples for increasing substance abuse treatment access in rural areas. Summarizes the health insurance impacts of the Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities legislation.
Date: 03/2019
Sponsoring organization: AHIP
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Identifying Safety-Net Resources at Health Centers to Prevent Infectious Disease Transmission Resulting from the Opioid Epidemic
Examines challenges faced and strategies used by Community Health Centers (CHCs) in rural areas to reduce the transmission of infectious diseases in relation to opioid use. Focuses on treatment of people with opioid use disorder; prevention of HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) transmission; integration of substance use services with mental health and primary care; information sharing among health centers and Ryan White Part C providers; and challenges related to staffing, administration, finances, and social stigma. Identifies 7 facilitators of successful programs.
Author(s): Joshua Breslau, Ryan K. McBain, Molly Simmons
Date: 03/2019
Sponsoring organizations: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, RAND Corporation
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Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Save Lives
Reports on the findings from an expert committee regarding the evidence behind using medications to treat opioid use disorder, as well as issues with accessing medication-based treatment. Chapter 3 includes a section focusing on rural populations and chapter 5 addresses rural/urban differences in the number of healthcare providers waivered to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid-use disorder.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Committee on Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder
Date: 03/2019
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Pain in the Nation Update: While Deaths from Alcohol, Drugs, and Suicide Slowed Slightly in 2017, Rates Are Still at Historic Highs
Issue brief details updated rates of deaths related to drugs, alcohol, and suicide from 2016-2017. Breaks down data by age, and regionally, including rural versus metro areas.
Date: 03/2019
Sponsoring organization: Trust for America's Health
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Estimating the Number of People Who Inject Drugs in A Rural County in Appalachia
Demonstrates how a group of researchers conducted data collection in Cabell County, West Virginia in June and July 2018, to estimate the number of people who inject drugs such as heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl. Features statistics including demographics and breakdowns by type of drug injected.
Author(s): Sean T. Allen, Allison O'Rourke, Rebecca Hamilton White, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 109(3), 445-450
Date: 03/2019
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Addressing the Rural Opioid Addiction and Overdose Crisis Through Cross-Sector Collaboration: Little Falls, Minnesota
Explores a cross-sector community-based care coordination effort to reduce the use of opioids in Little Falls, MN. Discusses the collaboration between a rural hospital and clinic with the Morrison County Accountable Communities for Health (ACH) program and highlights changes to opioid prescribing practices and community awareness of treatment options.
Author(s): Caroline Au-Yeung, Lynn A. Blewett, Kathy Lange
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 109(2), 260-262
Date: 02/2019
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Premature Mortality from All Causes and Drug Poisonings in the USA According to Socioeconomic Status and Rurality: An Analysis of Death Certificate Data by County from 2000–15
Examines premature deaths from drug poisoning versus all causes by county for various groups of people. Addresses differences by rural/urban location, socioeconomic status, education level, and sex, among other measures. See additional link for detailed tables.
Additional links: Supplementary Appendix
Author(s): Meredith S. Shiels, Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, Ana F. Best, et al.
Citation: The Lancet, 4(2), e97-e106
Date: 02/2019
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Opioid Use Disorder: Challenges and Opportunities in Rural Communities
Discusses challenges rural communities face in providing access to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). Identifies federal and state strategies to address treatment capacity, including expanding the workforce authorized to prescribe buprenorphine and using technology to provide treatment. Highlights how Scott County, Indiana responded to an HIV outbreak related to OUD by addressing the barriers to care faced by people with OUD and HIV.
Date: 02/2019
Sponsoring organization: Pew
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Oklahoma Drug Induced Causes of Death Due to Opioid Poisoning, 1999 to 2017
County-level map of Oklahoma, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics, to show drug induced age-adjusted mortality rate due to opioid poisoning from 1999 to 2017.
Date: 01/2019
Sponsoring organization: Oklahoma State University Center for Rural Health
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