Best Practices

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has updated the 2018 document which outlines best practices for implementing and operating recovery housing. Assisting individuals with recovery housing is critical in the journey of recovery and can lead to the improvement of health, reduce overdose risks, and sustain recovery.

During this session, attendees had the opportunity to have topic-focused discussions among their peers in smaller, facilitated breakout groups. The groups all convened in the ballroom, and attendees had the opportunity for sharing best practices and obstacles, asking questions, and participating in other forms of discussion throughout the session.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded an evaluation study of post-overdose outreach programs in Massachusetts known as the PRONTO Study. This study group assessed the evidence on post-overdose outreach.

This paper illustrates survival models for analysis of trials of substance use treatment programs. It uses public release data from a study of extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX), relative to buprenorphine-naloxone (BUP-NX).

This packet presents Implementation III grantees with tools and strategies to support implementation activities that expand the options for SUD/OUD services across the care spectrum, thereby helping rural residents in your community to prevent SUD/OUD, access treatment, and move toward recovery. 

The suggested tools and resources herein address the need for agencies to support frontline service providers following exposure to an overdose fatality. Frontline service providers may include any staff members that interact directly with populations that are at greater risk for experiencing overdose. The suggestions throughout the document should be implemented in keeping with agency-based policies and procedures for staff support. Introducing these strategies into the workplace can foster greater well-being among those staff members most vulnerable to trauma and distress. The goal of these suggestions is to promote well-being in the workplace for those most vulnerable to trauma, stress and grief. To achieve this, outlined below are principles for agencies to incorporate into their organization, how to acknowledge death in the moment, approaches to coping with strong emotions, the importance of building a support system, and the process of grief.

Importance: Although clinical trials demonstrate the superior effectiveness of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) compared with nonpharmacologic treatment, national data on the comparative effectiveness of real-world treatment pathways are lacking. Objective:To examine associations between opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment pathways and overdose and opioid-related acute care use as proxies for OUD recurrence

Session 1: Considerations for Addressing Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) JBS NAS Technical Expert Leads and NAS: RCORP grantees from Regions 6 and 7 will discuss resources, stigma, best practices, and challenges in addressing NAS.

Speaker(s):

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is the use of medications, combined with counseling, to treat substance use disorders. Research has proven the effectiveness of MAT and addiction treatment experts endorse it, but a variety of barriers have prevented the widespread use of MAT. These include a lack of financing for medication, insufficient organizational infrastructure to deliver medication, state and county funding and regulatory obstacles, physician training and certification, staff and client resistance, and community attitudes.

New medications for office-based treatment of opioid addiction are comparable in efficacy to other chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, and hypertension when combined with other interventions and as part of a comprehensive care plan. They are safe, highly effective, can be prescribed and/or administered at the Community Health Center, with a sustainable business plan.