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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Prescription drug misuse

The Opioid Crisis: An Examination of How We Got Here and How We Move Forward
Presents the full U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) hearing on the opioid crisis, featuring a testimony from Sam Quinones, journalist and author of Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opioid Epidemic.
Additional links: Written Testimony
Date: 01/2018
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
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Evidence-Based Strategies for Preventing Opioid Overdose: What's Working in the United States
Guide for community leaders, public health, law enforcement, and others working to address the opioid crisis in their community. Identifies evidence-based practices that have been successfully implemented in the U.S. and are effective in reducing rates of opioid overdose. Includes strategies focused on naloxone distribution, medication-assisted treatment (MAT), addressing opioid use in criminal justice settings, syringe services, and more.
Author(s): Jennifer J. Carroll, Traci C. Green, Rita K. Noonan
Date: 2018
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Child Welfare and Substance Use
Discusses a study on the relationship between substance use, specifically opioid misuse, and child welfare caseloads. Explores reports of child abuse and foster care entries along with drug mortality rates and retail opioid sales. Features rural information in the second and third reports.
Date: 2018
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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The Opioid Crisis in Rural and Small Town America
Provides data on opioid mortality rates in 2016 and changes in opioid mortality from 1999 through 2016 for metropolitan and nonmetro counties. Also provides metro/nonmetro data on drug overdoses by type of opioid - heroin, prescription opioids, synthetic opioids, and unspecified opioids - from 1999 through 2016. Discusses challenges rural areas face in addressing the opioid crisis.
Author(s): Shannon M. Monnat, Khary K. Rigg
Date: 2018
Sponsoring organization: Carsey School of Public Policy
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Leading a Faith-Based Charge Against Opioid Abuse: How a Minnesota Rural Health Organization Became a National Leader
Describes prescription drug abuse treatment efforts of CHI St. Gabriel's Health, a multifacility rural health organization in Little Falls, Minnesota.
Author(s): Patrick Rioux
Citation: Health Progress, 99(2), 29-32
Date: 2018
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Vermont Results First: Inventory and Benefit-Cost Analysis for the Department of Health/Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program's Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder (Hub and Spoke)
Examines the program inventory and benefit-cost analysis of Vermont's Care Alliance for Opioid Addiction, a "Hub and Spoke" system of regional opioid treatment programs that treat individuals with opioid use disorder using medication along with counseling and supportive services.
Date: 12/2017
Sponsoring organizations: Criminal Research Group, Results First Initiative, Justice Research and Statistics Association, State of Vermont Blueprint for Health, Vermont Department of Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs (ADAP)
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Examining Substance Use Disorder Treatment Demand and Provider Capacity in a Changing Health Care System: Final Report
Assesses demand and capacity for substance use disorder treatment, with comparisons between years 2013 and 2016. Features statistics including numbers of clients, staff hours, percentage of facilities offering pharmacotherapies and accepting various insurance types, and distribution of specialty treatments, with breakdowns by urban and rural locations.
Additional links: In Focus Brief, May 2018
Author(s): Ellen Bouchery
Date: 12/2017
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Vermont Hub-and-Spoke Model of Care for Opioid Use Disorders: An Evaluation
Details an evaluation of Vermont's hub-and-spoke model of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid addiction. Discusses the system's successes and areas that need focus and improvement.
Additional links: Summary Brief
Author(s): Richard A. Rawson
Date: 12/2017
Sponsoring organization: Vermont Center on Behavior & Health
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Behavioral, Mental, and Physical Health Characteristics and Opioid Medication Misuse among Community Pharmacy Patients: A Latent Class Analysis
Study of opioid misuse risk factors based on mental, behavioral, and physical health characteristics for patients in 2 rural and 2 urban Pennsylvania counties. Uses latent class analysis methodology to identify combinations of indicators that may be visible to pharmacists and that may suggest increased risk of opioid misuse, including age, employment, whether a pharmacy is in a rural area, and education level.
Author(s): Gerald Cochran, Valerie Hruschak, Jennifer L. Bacci, Kenneth C. Hohmeier, Ralph Tarter
Citation: Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 13(6), 1055-1061
Date: 11/2017
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Pain in the Nation: The Drug, Alcohol and Suicide Crises and the Need for a National Resilience Strategy
Examines current trends, causes, costs, and potential solutions to the drug, alcohol, and suicide crises in the U.S. Includes rural data and discussion of rural-specific issues.
Author(s): Laura M. Segal, Anne De Biasi, Jennifer L. Mueller, Kendra May, Molly Warren
Date: 11/2017
Sponsoring organization: Trust for America's Health
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