Resources
10 Results (showing 1 - 10)
Results sorted by posted date (newest first)
Results sorted by posted date (newest first)
Posted 3/9/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
A disproportionate number of people in jails have substance use disorders (SUDs).1 Incarceration provides a valuable opportunity for identifying SUD and addressing withdrawal.* Within the first few hours and days of detainment, individuals who have suddenly stopped using alcohol, opioids, or other drugs may experience withdrawal symptoms, particularly when they have used the substances heavily or long-term. Without its identification and timely subsequent medical attention, withdrawal can lead to serious injury or death. Deaths from withdrawal are preventable, and jail administrators have a pressing responsibility to establish and implement withdrawal policy and protocols that will save lives and ensure legal compliance. This brief describes the scope of the challenge, provides an overview of constitutional rights and key legislation related to substance use withdrawal, and outlines steps for creating a comprehensive response to SUD.
Posted 2/16/2022 (updated 3/26/2024)
In the United States, combined stimulant/opioid overdose mortality has risen dramatically over the last decade. These increases may particularly affect non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic populations. We used death certificate data from the US National Center for Health Statistics (2007–2019) to compare state-level trends in overdose mortality due to opioids in combination with 1) cocaine and 2) methamphetamine and other stimulants (MOS) across racial/ethnic groups (non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Asian American/Pacific Islander).
Posted 12/22/2021 (updated 3/26/2024)
This Rural Health Care Chartbook is part of a family of documents and tools that support the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (NHQDR). The NHQDR includes annual reports to Congress mandated in the Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999 (P.L. 106- 129). These reports provide a comprehensive overview of the quality of healthcare received by the general U.S. population and disparities in care experienced by different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. The reports assess the performance of our health system and identify areas of strength and weakness in the healthcare system along four main axes: access to healthcare, quality of healthcare, disparities in healthcare, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) priority areas. The reports are based on more than 250 measures of quality and disparities covering a broad array of healthcare services and settings. Data are generally available through 2017-2018. The reports are produced with the help of an Interagency Work Group led by AHRQ and submitted on behalf of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Posted 9/22/2021 (updated 4/3/2024)
Opioid overdose deaths continue to increase in the United States, reaching 49 860 in 2019, the highest ever recorded.1 Non-Hispanic White individuals were disproportionately affected in the wave of prescription opioid deaths at the turn of the century; however, recent increases driven by heroin and fentanyl have been greater for non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic individuals.
Objectives. To examine trends in opioid overdose deaths by race/ethnicity from 2018 to 2019 across 67 HEALing Communities Study (HCS) communities in Kentucky, New York, Massachusetts, and Ohio.
Posted 7/28/2021 (updated 4/2/2024)
Various state and local jurisdictions in the United States are implementing mobile models for treating opioid use disorder (OUD). In August 2020, RTI International spoke with six agencies to learn more about their mobile treatment programs. This article is the first in a three-part series on mobile response programs and provides an in-depth look at two of these programs. We will discuss the remaining programs in two subsequent articles. The goal of this series is to inform jurisdictions considering whether a mobile treatment program would work in their communities and to determine what type of model would fit best.
Posted 7/7/2021 (updated 4/2/2024)
Background: Injecting drug users (IDUs) are at increased risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV and other bloodborne pathogens through the multi-person use of syringes. Although research has shown that increased access to syringes through syringe exchange programs (SEPs) is an effective strategy to reduce risky injection practices many areas of the United States still do not have SEPs. In the absence of SEPs, legislation allowing pharmacies over-the-counter sales of syringes has also been shown to reduce syringe sharing. The success of pharmacy sales however is limited by other legal stipulations, such as drug paraphernalia laws, which in turn may contribute to fear among IDUs about being caught purchasing and carrying syringes.
Posted 5/12/2021 (updated 4/10/2024)
Drug overdose is a continuing epidemic that claimed the lives of over 67,000 Americans in 2018. Opioids, either alone or in combination with other substances, were responsible for approximately 70% of these deaths. Many of these lost lives and other opioid-related harms are preventable through the timely administration of the opioid reversal drug naloxone and, where appropriate, other follow-up care.
Posted 4/7/2021 (updated 4/5/2024)
To advance the broader aims of a healthy and just society, the regular use of language that is nonprejudicial is critical. This document outlines a person first language approach and offers guiding principles and recommendations regarding accurate and nonpejorative terminology.
Posted 3/30/2021 (updated 4/5/2024)
This toolkit provides correctional administrators and health care providers the information necessary to plan and implement MAT programs within jails and prisons.
Posted 1/20/2021 (updated 4/4/2024)
People who use drugs (PWUD) in the U.S. experience disproportionate adverse health outcomes and mortality as compared with the population as a whole (Lake & Kennedy, 2016; Reisinger, Pratt, Shoenborn, & Druss, 2017). Similar health outcomes have been reported elsewhere, for example in the UK (Neale, 2004), and across 8 other European countries (Bargagli et al., 2006). In the U.S. health outcomes among PWUD are intensified by the overdose pandemic, epidemic rates of HIV, hepatitis A and C, skin and soft tissue infections (CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020; Hagen, Thiede, & Des Jarlais, 2005; Scholl, Seth, Kariisa, Wilson, & Baldwin, 2019), and by structural barriers thwarting health access and utilization.