This academic paper assesses the impact of COVID-19 in a sample of individuals who use drugs in rural Illinois through qualitative surveys and interviews. The authors findings emphasize the importance of ensuring access to harm reduction services, including overdose prevention and drug checking…

This is an academic paper that provides an overview of the impact of the opioid crisis on children and adolescents, as well as summarizes challenges to improving outcomes for children. Adverse consequences of parental opioid use related to the family unit are discussed in detail. 

This is an issue brief from the National Council on Aging that uses a survey to understand how older adults and their caregivers are affected by the opioid crisis and identify new resources and tools needed for organizations to better serve their communities. Recommendations are provided…

This academic paper addressed inappropriate opioid prescription in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania through the distribution of opioid prescription report cards to clinicians. These individualized report cards provided clinicians with an evaluation of their opioid prescribing patterns in relation to…

This is a report from the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University that discusses the benefits of syringe service programs (SSP), including decreased infectious disease transmission, linkage to treatment and over services such as naloxone distribution, criminal…

This is a report from the Center for Applied Research Solutions (authors Springer and Phillips) that delves into the Institute of Medicine (IOM) categorization of prevention into universal, selective, and indicated populations, a widely adopted model in the prevention field, which can help…

This issue brief from NASTAD gives an overview of the impact of HIV and Hepatitis C in the context of the opioid crisis. Additionally, recommendations are made to implement a comprehensive response at the intersection of these devastating and deadly epidemics. 

This paper describes the Post Overdose Support Team (POST), a person-centered initiative led by Massachusetts harm reductionists in health and human services agencies in collaboration with municipal first responders. POST teams conduct home-based outreach with individuals who experienced an…

This is a report from the Brookings Institute that explores the link between the opioid crisis and the education outcomes of children in hard-hit areas. It findings introduce a potentially troubling side of the nation’s opioid crisis not recently examined, the adverse effects on the learning…

This research brief examines relationships between indicators of economic opportunity and the prevalence of prescription opioids and substance use in the United States. It also explains that…

This is an issue brief from SAMHSA that provides opioid data specific to the black population, discusses contextual factors that serve as challenges for this population, and makes recommendations on strategies to address the opioid crisis specific to blacks. Many innovative outreach and…

This is an issue brief from SAMHSA that highlights the impact of the opioid crisis on the Hispanic/Latinx community. In addition to epidemiology, contextual factors that create challenges for this population in accessing treatment and other services, the importance of including the Hispanic…

This issue brief focuses on the opioid crisis in rural and small communities in the United States. It presents evidence on urban-rural differences in overdose mortality across geography and type of opioid…

This is an academic paper that provides a broad framework to better understand the multivariable and complex drivers of the opioid crisis that can lead to better informed interventions and policy solutions. The paper uses the socio-ecological model, which goes beyond the individual and looks at…

This is a detailed presentation from Dr. Joseph Liberto of the Veterans Affairs (VA) Maryland Health Care System that gives the epidemiology of opioid use and opioid use disorder (OUD) among veterans, provides guidance on how to assess veterans for OUD, and highlights VA initiatives to address…

This is a white paper from Gallagher that serves as an educational document for employers to proactively address opioid misuse in the workplace, primarily through educating the workforce, enacting the right policies, and managing benefits. 

This is a 2017 Congressional Research Service report describing which federal agencies are funding opioid-related programs.

This is an article in the Health Affairs Blog that summarizes national and state strategies to address the opioid crisis and describe further reforms needed to tailor these efforts to teens and young adults, mostly related to payment and delivery reform. 

This is a report from the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center targeting the impact of the opioid crisis on American Indians and Alaskan Natives (AI/AN). The complicated nature of the opioid crisis is discussed and potential solutions are made in this document. 

This report from Johns Hopkins contains specific, proven recommendations for how to most effectively combat the opioid crisis –from allowing physicians to more effectively treat those suffering from addiction; to expanding coverage and accessibility of opioid overdose reversal drugs like…