This academic paper conducted a review of existing literature describing new services and service modifications implemented by treatment and harm reduction programs serving people who use opioids, and also discusses implications for policy and practice. The authors set their literature review in the specific time frame of the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to analyze how the pandemic impacted these programs. 

This is a report which describes how to develop a more coordinated and comprehensive health education system in regards to opioid use disorder. The report provides information on the current health professional education environment and also a survey of its regulations. The literature review specifically focuses on the education of medical professionals involved in pain management and the substance use disorder workforce. 

This study examined the state of the literature on the effectiveness of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) delivered in prisons and jails on community substance use treatment engagement, opioid use, recidivism, and health risk behaviors following release from incarceration.

The results obtained provide the first meta-analytic summary of MOUD (methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone) delivered in correctional settings and support the use of MOUD.

This research paper found that implementation of an emergency department (ED)–based peer recovery support program for opioid overdose was associated with improvements in initiation of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD). The efficacy of peer support depended on factors such as implementation success, program embeddedness, and availability of other hospital- and community-based services to treat opioid use disorder.

This peer-reviewed paper is an adequate summary of the effectiveness of brief interventions in the emergency department for alcohol use disorder and substance use disorder, with a specific section on opioid use disorder. 

This is a report from the Maryland Hospital Association that provides recommendations to hospitals on protocols in place for patients treated for an overdose or identified as having a substance use disorder. These protocols include universal screening, naloxone access, facilitated referrals, and peer recovery coaches. 

This is an academic paper that provides a scoping review of post-overdose responses implemented by emergency medical services (EMS). 27 programs were identified with themes including providing harm reduction in the community, integration with law enforcement, innovative community outreach, and inclusion of peer support. 

This report is published by the Legal Action Center and describes evidence-based practices for providing substance use disorder care and how they are successfully implemented or not implemented in different hospital emergency department settings. The report explains possible reasons for certain departments not adopting proper substance use disorder care practices and how this worsens existing barriers to those seeking care, and could even be a violation of certain federal laws regarding substance use disorder and discrimination. 

This is a toolkit from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce for employers. There is an online course, divided into five modules, that gives an overview of the legal and operational issues an employer must consider in dealing with an employee’s use of opioids and other substances, as well as additional resources. 

This is a report from the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at UPenn that provides four recommendations for the federal government to consider in addressing the opioid crisis in the domains of cautious opioid prescribing, treatment and recovery services, harm reduction strategies, and efficient distribution of money from opioid litigation. 

This is a report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse that provides proven and promising strategies from a range of evidence-based resources, thus offering a clear and concise set of actions that states can take. Its aim is to help state policymakers understand what a public health approach looks like and how best to implement one.

This document seeks to arm policymakers with the information they need to replace misinformation and stigma with research-based facts and practical, health-based solutions. There is a wide array of existing state initiatives highlighted. 

This is a report from SAMHSA that gives an overview of HEALing Communities Study and how this project engaged community coalitions. This report's purpose is to help build and sustain community coalitions to address the opioid crisis.