Resources
86 Results (showing 11 - 20)
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 4/11/2023 (updated 3/27/2024)
This webinar will help set a foundation for what trauma-informed care (TIC) means and why it is important.
Posted 4/4/2023 (updated 3/27/2024)
The guide from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing aims to support harm reduction organizations operating in virtual environments and summarizes some of the strategies that harm reduction organizations have developed and found to be effective at maintaining connection while doing harm reduction work virtually. Harm reduction continued during the COVID-19 pandemic and organizations effectively changed the way services were delivered, primarily through telework.
Posted 3/14/2023 (updated 3/27/2024)
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.
Posted 2/28/2023 (updated 3/27/2024)
This study's objective was to develop and validate a survey tool to assess emergency department physician attitudes, clinical practice, and willingness to perform opiate harm reduction interventions. After surveying physicians, most showed they were willing to provide necessary interventions, while few do perform them. Although there was an increased willingness to perform the interventions, a disparity remains.
Posted 12/21/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released a notice of proposed rulemaking that would allow certified opioid treatment programs to begin prescribing the drug via audio-only or video-enabled telehealth. See additional information under Policy Updates below. The proposed changes come on top of recent findings by HHS of the positive impact of its revised Practice Guidelines for the Administration of Buprenorphine for Treating Opioid Use Disorder that removed two longstanding requirements for obtaining a waiver to treat up to 30 patients with buprenorphine: 1) the requirement for specific training, and 2) the need for otherwise eligible clinicians to certify their ability to provide or refer patients for counseling and other services. Rural primary care providers have obtained the DEA waiver at a lower rate than urban clinicians; decreased burden and greater flexibility in the guidelines, along with broader use of telehealth could help close that gap.
Posted 12/13/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the progress made since the release of the Overdose Prevention Strategy (Strategy) last fall. The new data shows treatment capacity, lives saved from overdose, and commitments to long-term recovery supports, as well as a hopeful trend of a decrease in overdose deaths.
Posted 11/14/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
In their new 2022 Clinical Practice Guideline, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides updated evidence and research on the risks and benefits of prescription opioids for acute, subacute, and chronic pain. These include dosing strategies, tapering and discontinuation, comparisons with nonopioid pain treatments, and risk mitigation strategies.
Posted 11/1/2022 (updated 3/27/2024)
The webinar held by NASTAD on October 26, 2022, 4:00-5:30pm featured a dynamic discussion on integrating harm reduction principles and practices, including naloxone distribution, safe disposal, and harm reduction supply access, within the community health care setting. Health centers across the country that offer these services as part of comprehensive care shared their experiences and the ways that service expansion can contribute to engagement and care access.