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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Illicit drug use

Promising Practice: Virginia SORH Taking Aim at Opioid Overdose
Illustrates how the Virginia State Office of Rural Health (VA SORH) and its partners are focusing their attention on the opioid epidemic in rural areas of the state by expanding treatment, and training lay rescuers to recognize and respond to an opioid overdose and administer naloxone when necessary.
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Date: 04/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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Substance Use in Rural Central Appalachia: Current Status and Treatment Considerations
Examines the factors in rural Central Appalachia that influence substance misuse and the treatments, strategies, and interventions to curb drug misuse and improve treatment outcomes. Discusses how the combination of poverty, work-related distress, lack of healthcare coverage, and the shortage of qualified providers of substance use treatments affect the need for a multifaceted policy approach in the region.
Author(s): Lara Moody, Emily Satterwhite, Warren K. Bickel
Citation: Rural Mental Health, 41(2), 123-135
Date: 04/2017
Type: Document
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The Opioid Epidemic: Evidence Based Strategies Legislative Report
Discusses the causes and consequences of the opioid epidemic in Louisiana, as well as recommendations to help address it. Outlines differences between rural and urban areas of the state. Provides maps showing access to treatment programs and buprenorphine providers.
Date: 04/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Louisiana Commission on Preventing Opioid Abuse, Louisiana Department of Health
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Report on Lessons Learned from Rural Opioid Overdose Reversal Grant Recipients
Presents lessons learned from the recipients of the Rural Opioid Overdose Reversal (ROOR) Program grants. The ROOR Program was piloted by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) in 2015 and seeks to combat the opioid crisis at the local level. Report also shares resources designed to assist other rural organizations and documents the impact of the pilot year program. Provides background information on each of the 18 original grant recipients and their programs.
Date: 04/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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Harm Reduction – West Virginia Local Health Departments Lead Efforts to Mitigate Human and Financial Costs of Opioid Epidemic
Describes West Virginia public health departments' efforts to promote harm reduction programs, as a response to the opioid crisis and resulting overdose deaths. Gives examples of successful programs from across the state.
Date: 04/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: West Virginia Association of Local Health Departments
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The Effects of Perceived Racial/Ethnic Discrimination on Substance Use Among Youths Living in the Cherokee Nation
Study examining the association of racial discrimination and substance misuse from a sample of American Indian, American Indian and White, and White adolescents living in small rural communities of northeast Oklahoma within the Cherokee Nation Tribal Jurisdictional Service Area (CNTJSA).
Author(s): Brady A. Garrett, Bethany J. Livingston, Melvin D. Livingston, Kelli A. Komroc
Citation: Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 26(3), 242–249
Date: 03/2017
Type: Document
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Combatting the Opioid Epidemic with Provider and Public Education
Highlights from a conversation with Fred Wells Brason II, discussing community-based efforts to reduce opioid misuse and abuse in rural communities. Brason helped found Project Lazarus in Wilkes County, North Carolina, which reduced the overdose rate in Wilkes County by 72 percent over three years. The Project Lazarus model has since spread to more than 20 states and focuses on cross-sector collaboration, public and provider education, and increasing access to treatment.
Citation: Transforming Care: Reporting on Health System Improvement
Date: 03/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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A National Strategy for the Elimination of Hepatitis B and C: Phase Two Report
Report that considers strategies to eliminate Hepatitis B and C as a public health problem in the U.S. and potential barriers that could stand in the way of this goal. Includes recommendations for coordination and funding, as well as rural focused segments regarding injectable drugs such as opioids and other narcotics.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 03/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Committee on a National Strategy for the Elimination of Hepatitis B and C, Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Acceptability of HIV Testing Sites Among Rural and Urban African Americans Who Use Cocaine
Focuses on rural versus urban African-American cocaine users in Arkansas and their views of different types of HIV testing sites. Compares the acceptability of testing at local health departments, clinics, community health centers, and more.
Author(s): D. Keith Branham, Tyrone F. Borders, Katharine E. Stewart, Geoffrey M. Curran, Brenda M. Booth
Citation: AIDS and Behavior, 21(2), 576-586
Date: 02/2017
Type: Document
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Reducing Risky Sex among Rural African American Cocaine Users: A Controlled Trial
Details a study on a STI/HIV risk-reduction program for rural African American cocaine users. Looks specifically the intervention's effect on condom use and sexual risk negotiation skills, among other factors.
Author(s): Katharine E. Stewart, Patricia B. Wright, Brooke E. E. Montgomery, et al.
Citation: Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 28(1), 528-547
Date: 02/2017
Type: Document
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