Trainings and Resources

Rural and isolated residents in recovery have relied for years on various types of remote recovery support, which give participants choices and access beyond in-person support. These services are more important than ever to assure that people in recovery from SUD/OUD receive sustained support.

This resource is a State Health official letter issued by the Center for Medicaid providing guidance on implementation throughout the Medicaid program of the provision pursuant to Section 1006(b) of the Support for Patients and Communities Act. Within the scope of the SUPPORT Act provision, state Medicaid programs are now required to provide and cover medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and behavioral therapy for opioid use disorders.

This article presents an important look into stigma of families impacted by NAS and the ways in which healthcare providers must work to combat stigma’s harmful effects, and explores directions for future research of strategies for reducing stigma amongst this population to improve engagement in healthcare and positive heath-seeking behaviors. The authors reported that mothers of infants with NAS experience intensified stigma surrounding SUDs and the challenge of overcoming exclusion, shame, and judgement of their ability to parent. In examining nurses’ perceptions of perinatal women with SUD, the authors found that many struggled with negative attitudes and prejudices towards mothers of infants with NAS that interfered with their ability to provide nonjudgmental care. The authors urge nurses to implement substantial strategies for addressing stigma through tools such as the ACTS script.

This toolkit is designed primarily for substance use and child welfare practitioners, as well as other service providers and health system planners who offer services to, or design services with, pregnant women and new mothers who use substances. Much is changing in the substance use and child welfare fields to bring forth approaches that are culturally safe, trauma informed, harm reduction-oriented and participant-driven. This toolkit highlights these advances and invites people working in both systems to think about how we can continue to improve our work, in partnership with the women who use these services.

Most fatal overdoses in the U.S. are opioid related, but also involve and other illicit substances. A new social determinant-based Community Health Needs Assessment tool applies a substance use journey, endemic prevalence, data source ideas, and program prioritization methods.

Developed for the Puerto Rico Department of Health, this toolkit discusses how to screen pregnant women for substance use, screen infants for prenatal exposure to substances, recognize the signs of NAS, utilize validated screening tools, understand the importance of provider education, and engage pregnant women in the process of treatment and referral.

The course titled, Plans of Safe Care for Infants Exposed to Opioids, educates pediatricians about best practices in caring for, and supporting families affected by prenatal opioid exposure. Advancing the care coordination and patient- and family-centered pediatric medical home framework, the course supports pediatricians in implementing key recommendations outlined in the newly released clinical report, Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome. The topics include, (1) trends and impact of opioid use disorder (OUD) during pregnancy; (2) practical approaches for addressing social attitudes towards pregnant and parenting women with OUD; and (3) discharge planning to support long-term treatment and recovery for the mother-infant dyad during the transition to community care. 

Sonoran Prevention Works is an advocate for people in Arizona affected by drug use. Spanish language resources from Ssamaritan PAWZ are included.

ONDCP released a new tool to assist rural community leaders in building an effective local response to the crisis of addiction, the Rural Community Action Guide: Building Stronger, Healthy Drug-Free Rural Communities. The Guide also has a companion supplement, a listing of promising practices, included.

While these efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 affect everyone, patients treated with buprenorphine/naloxone for an opioid use disorder (OUD) will feel these disruptions more acutely, especially in rural communities.