This is a presentation by several collaborating organizations that describes the community response to the opioid crisis addressing upstream, midstream, and downstream interventions, such as cautious opioid prescribing, medications for opioid use disorder, and overdose prevention, respectively…

This is a summary of findings from a report on the value of collective efficacy and social cohesion in neighborhoods to increase social action and decrease crime.  Policy recommendations are made to increase these neighborhood constructs. The entire report can be found…

This is an academic paper that provides an overview of the neurobiology and neuroscience of opioid use disorder (OUD), with diagrams showing the parts of the brain affected and the science underlying the high risk of recurrence of OUD symptoms. 

This is an academic paper that evaluations an intervention to reduce unused prescription opioids by buying them back in a VA hospital. A small financial incentive ($5 per pill/$50 max) resulted in 30% of eligible patients returning unused prescription opioids. 

This report by the Health Policy Institute of Ohio finds that for the first time since the opioid crisis began, Ohio’s monthly overdose deaths started to decline markedly in the second half of 2017. Ohio’s strong policy focus on overdose reversal has likely contributed to this good news. 

This is an academic paper that examines polysubstance use disorders, the need for treatment systems to account for their high prevalence, and the high risks of developing more than one substance use disorder. For example, the increased risk of developing heroin dependence is twofold for alcohol…

This is an academic paper that describes an overdose education and naloxone distribution intervention to train opioid users and those who will come into frequent contact with opioid users, such as first responders, who, in turn, train others. There is also a focus on outreach to high-risk…

This is a report from SAMHSA that highlights 10 collaborative faith-based partnerships and outlines the steps taken by these teams in establishing a foundation for sustained strategic partnerships among community and interfaith leaders to support prevention, treatment, and recovery needs in…

This is an academic paper that provides an overview of the trajectory of the opioid crisis through the lens of a structural and social determinants of health framework. Having an understanding of the root causes of the opioid crisis, such as upstream structural factors, can inform comprehensive …

This is a presentation by Dr. Sharon Levy of Boston Children’s Hospital that gives an overview of the impact of opioid misuse on adolescents, including an emphasis on youth brain development and the risk factors that lead to opioid misuse. 

This academic paper informs that CDC analysis of patient opioid prescription data from a national electronic health record vendor during 2014–2017 found that the percentage of patients prescribed an opioid was higher in rural than in urban areas. According to this paper, there were significant…

This is a presentation that reports the results of a survey of state and local health departments on what they are doing to address opioid misuse prevention and early intervention. 

This is a paper that provides a preliminary evaluation of using peer outreach workers to identify and link people with opioid use disorder (OUD) to methadone treatment in a high-risk community in Chicago.

The results are promising as 88 active users with OUD were identified, 70 showed up…

This is report recognizing that community pharmacists are uniquely poised to engage in efforts to reduce opioid misuse and opioid related overdose. It provides guidance to pharmacist on screening for potential opioid misuse, dispensing medications for opioid use disorder, and providing access to…

This document from four of the longest-tenured and well-respected organizations in the addiction sphere outlines three major strategic priorities for addressing the opioid crisis with potential opioid settlement money. These include:

1) Enhancing public education to correct long-held…

This is a report from Pew Charitable Trusts that outlines the necessity of Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs) across the United States. The report discusses how these OTPs are currently impeded by current federal and state regulations and how this is also inhibiting access to opioid use disorder…

This is a peer-reviewed paper in Nature providing an overview of opioid use disorder (OUD) and is written by a group comprised of many leading experts in the field. The paper discusses the epidemiology of OUD, especially as it relates to risk factors and burden. Next, the neuroscience…

The study conducted by the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine targeted students in their medicine clerkship and assessed their motivational interviewing skills, harm reduction knowledge, and use of de-stigmatizing language towards a panel of opioid use disorder patients. Their skills…

This is an academic paper which provides an overview of the trends concerning opioid use disorder in women and its implications for treatment. Authors show that there is a gender-based gap in preventing rising death rates by opioid overdose in women as well as treatment of perinatal women with…

This is an issue brief from the Pew Charitable Trusts that discusses opioid use disorder (OUD) among incarcerated populations and provides best practices for OUD treatment in prisons and jails. Several case studies that have implemented medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are highlighted…