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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Illicit drug use

On Pills and Needles: Counties Fight the Opioid Drug Crisis
Special issue focused on how counties are responding to the opioid crisis. Includes an interview with Michael Botticelli, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, focused on the federal response to rural opioid abuse.
Citation: County News
Date: 07/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Counties
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The Opioid Epidemic: Rural Organizations Fight Back
Highlights programs across the country, such as the ANGEL Program, the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PARRI) and the Second Chance Drug Initiative, in which police departments and treatment facilities work together to fight addiction and move drug users toward treatment rather than incarceration. Also discusses the use and availability of naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug.
Author(s): Zachary Toliver
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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The Communities That Care Coalition Model for Improving Community Health through Clinical-Community Partnerships: A Population Health Case Report
Discussion paper featuring a community coalition in rural western Massachusetts focused on supporting youth well-being and reducing youth substance abuse. Describes the initiative and the partners involved, including clinicians and public health. Discusses how the Communities That Care Coalition works within a network of local coalitions, including acting as the prevention arm of the region's Opioid Task Force.
Author(s): Jeanette Voas, Katherine Allen, Ruth Potee
Date: 05/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Academy of Medicine
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The Opioid Epidemic: Testing the Limits of Rural Healthcare
Discusses the factors that make rural communities vulnerable to the ongoing opioid epidemic and efforts needed in rural areas to address this crisis, including the role of rural first responders.
Author(s): Zachary Toliver
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 05/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Eliminating the Public Health Problem of Hepatitis B and C in the United States: Phase One Report
Discusses the national burden of Hepatitis B and C infections, and assesses the feasibility of meeting national and global reduction targets or achieving complete elimination of the disease. Also addresses challenges to adapting eradication strategies in rural areas. A National Strategy for the Elimination of Hepatitis B and C: Phase Two Report recommends specific actions to accelerate eradication efforts.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Committee on a National Strategy for the Elimination of Hepatitis B and C, Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Rural Communities in Crisis: Strategies to Address the Opioid Crisis
Policy brief describing the effects of the opioid and heroin crisis in rural areas. Covers challenges to rural healthcare organizations combating this issue, and identifies and discusses policy recommendations for addressing the opioid and heroin crisis in rural communities and in rural healthcare systems.
Author(s): John A. Gale, Dave Schmitz, Michael Meit, et al.
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Correlates to Seroprevalent Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Among Rural Appalachian Drug Users
Examines HSV-2 seroprevalence among 499 drug users in a rural Appalachian Kentucky county, and relevant demographic, behavioral, and social network factors. Features statistics on demographics, sexual behavior, and drug use.
Author(s): Dustin B. Stephens, April M. Young, Ursula L. Mullins, Jennifer R. Havens
Citation: Journal of Medical Virology, 88(3), 512-520
Date: 03/2016
Type: Document
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Rural Opioid Abuse: Prevalence and User Characteristics
Compares non-medical use of opioids, opiates, and heroin in rural and urban areas and assesses socioeconomic characteristics associated with their use.
Author(s): Jennifer D. Lenardson, John A. Gale, Erika C. Ziller
Date: 02/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
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Hospitalizations for Overdose of Pain Medication and Heroin
Presents information on hospitalizations in Pennsylvania for overdoses of pain medication and heroin between 2000 and 2014. Includes data for rural and urban counties.
Date: 01/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council
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Increases in Acute Hepatitis B Virus Infections - Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia, 2006-2013
Reports on increased rates of hepatitis B infections in three Appalachian states, particularly among injection drug users and in non-urban areas.
Author(s): Aaron M. Harris, Kashif Iqbal, Sarah Schillie, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 65(3), 47-50
Date: 01/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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