Trainings and Resources

OMNI Institute, in partnership with the JBS RCORP-TA team, created the 2022-2023 RCORP-TA Data Learning Collaborative (LC) for grantees to come together and share knowledge, talk through challenges, and build relationships with one another. This LC will build upon the foundation established in the prior 2022 RCORP-TA Data Learning Collaborative.

The latest feature article in The Rural Monitor shares what’s known about the post-COVID illness that’s estimated to affect as many 3 million in rural areas. As of December 2022, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the top five states for self-reported symptoms are mostly rural: Montana, Wyoming, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Alaska.

Researchers at Indiana University conducted one-on-one interviews with clinical providers and other stakeholders in the recovery arena to better understand the slow uptake of the drug most used to treat opioid use disorder. Biases against buprenorphine was the most consistent theme, though the reason for bias differed amongst stakeholders. Clinical providers and behavioral health care providers preferred the abstinence approach rather than use of medications.

Harm in Behavioral Health: The Ethical Necessity for Multicultural Practices in Behavioral Health Programs webinar training material.

The White House budget request to Congress included an $11 billion ask to tackle the spread of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) over the next five years. Though it’s not a crisis that’s well-known or understood, public health efforts in the last 10 years have made strides toward prevention and treatment. Direct-acting antivirals developed less than a decade ago have been proven effective in 95 percent of the people who take a curative pill for 8 to 12 weeks.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced proposed rules for the prescribing of controlled medications via telemedicine beyond the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. One rule addresses the expansion of induction of buprenorphine via telemedicine encounter while the other covers telemedicine prescribing of controlled substances when the practitioner and the patient have not had a prior in-person medical evaluation. While opioid use disorders occur at similar rates in both rural and urban areas, medication assisted treatment (MAT) prescribers have been disproportionately located in urban areas. The public will be able to comment on the proposed rules until March 31st. 

The National Association of Rural Health Clinics first describes some of the COVID-related waivers and flexibilities that applied widely – such as those reducing barriers to telehealth – and then those that were specific to RHCs. These include relaxed requirements that physicians provide medical direction to nurse practitioners and justification to provide home nursing services, among others. These waivers will end with the public health emergency that is intended to end on May 11, 2023 as announcement by the Biden Administration.

Xylazine is a non-opioid that is approved for animals, and not FDA-approved for humans. New York State's Department of Health provides information on what it is, sources and trends, effects, why people use it, why clinicians should be concerned, and other information on Xylazine. Information about Xylazine is important to understand now that it has been showing up in illicit drug supply.

Contingency management has empirical support but limited implementation. This report provides an overview of contingency management, barriers of implementation, and recommendation on how to overcome the challenges of implementation. Evidence-based treatment for people with stimulant use disorder is important as the U.S. has been experiencing an overdose crisis resulting in overdose deaths. 

A new article in RHIhub's The Rural Monitor describes the community's understanding of Native culture in Gallup, New Mexico to take an effective, holistic community-wide approach to recovery of SUD. The article highlights a community-wide consortium that works hard to tackle the issue of alcohol and substance use disorders through withdrawal management, peer counseling, assisting with housing, and other services.