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18 Results (showing 1 - 10)
Results sorted by posted date (newest first)
Results sorted by posted date (newest first)
Posted 7/14/2023 (updated 3/28/2024)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has compiled a Harm Reduction Framework document that will inform the agency's activities, policies, programs, and practices. The framework document includes SAMHSA's six pillars of harm reduction as well as supporting principles and core practice areas.
Posted 4/28/2023 (updated 3/27/2024)
With the proliferation of fentanyl and other adulterants in the national illicit drug supply, people who use drugs (PWUD) are at greater risk of overdose. Among more than 107,000 drug overdose deaths that occurred between July 2021–June 2022, 64% involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Lowering the high rates of overdose among PWUD is possible, as evidence-based practices exist to prevent and respond to overdose, including fentanyl test strips and advanced drug checking equipment. To inform health departments’ harm reduction programming, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing – with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – developed Enhancing Harm Reduction Services in Health Departments: Fentanyl Test Strips and Other Drug Checking Equipment, an educational brief grounded by real-world experience.
Posted 10/12/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
From rural McDowell County to urban Forsyth, emergency services departments statewide say the labor shortage paired with high call volumes might mean it’ll take longer for an ambulance to arrive at your door.
Posted 8/10/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
Researchers looked at what happens in rural and urban emergency departments (EDs) when peer-based services are used for patients arriving with opioid use disorder (OUD). The study aimed to find gaps in knowledge for rural EDs and found five key differences from urban counterparts that presented a challenge. Among these was difficulty identifying community partners.
Posted 6/27/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
Naloxone leave behind programs are a popular public health intervention for combatting the opioid epidemic. These programs are designed for first responders to educate and equip high risk, nonmedical individuals to respond to opioid overdose scenarios. However, stigma and misconceptions regarding naloxone remain common among medical providers, including emergency medical services (EMS) members.
Posted 4/26/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
Background: The US overdose crisis is driven by fentanyl, heroin, and prescription opioids. One evidence-based policy response has been to broaden naloxone distribution, but how much naloxone a community would need to reduce the incidence of fatal overdose is unclear. We aimed to estimate state-level US naloxone need in 2017 across three main naloxone access points (community-based programmes, provider prescription, and pharmacy-initiated distribution) and by dominant opioid epidemic type (fentanyl, heroin, and prescription opioid).
Posted 4/6/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
County jails and community organizations across Michigan are teaming up on a new approach to distribute naloxone (Narcan®), the lifesaving medication used to reverse an opioid overdose, through the use of customized vending machines.
Posted 3/23/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
Over the past 20 years, drug overdose deaths have increased dramatically in the United States. Most of these deaths involved opioids, including prescription pain medications, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. These are called opioid-related overdoses and often occur as a result of respiratory depression caused by opioids, even when other medications and drugs are involved.
Posted 6/9/2021 (updated 4/10/2024)
Background: Racial/ethnic disparities in the use of opioids to treat pain disorders have been previously reported in the emergency department (ED). Further research is needed to better evaluate the impact race/ethnicity may have on the use of opioids in adolescents for the management of pain disorders in the ED.
Engagement in drug treatment following nonfatal overdose among people who inject drugs in Appalachia
Posted 6/2/2021 (updated 4/10/2024)
Immediately after experiencing a non-fatal overdose, many people who inject drugs (PWID) engage in harm-minimizing behavior change, including engagement in drug treatment. To inform the implementation of tailored interventions designed to facilitate drug treatment engagement in rural communities, we sought to identify correlates of starting any form of drug treatment after their most recent overdose among PWID who reside in a rural county in West Virginia.