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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Prescription drug misuse

The Opioid Epidemic: Testing the Limits of Rural Healthcare
Discusses the factors that make rural communities vulnerable to the ongoing opioid epidemic and efforts needed in rural areas to address this crisis, including the role of rural first responders.
Author(s): Zachary Toliver
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 05/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services Meeting Minutes, Beaufort, South Carolina, April 18-20, 2016
Provides a summary of the 79th meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services (NACRHHS), which was held in Beaufort, South Carolina. The meeting focused on two main topics: alternative models to preserving access to emergency care in rural areas in the face of hospital closures and the abuse of prescription painkillers and opioids.
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Rural Communities in Crisis: Strategies to Address the Opioid Crisis
Policy brief describing the effects of the opioid and heroin crisis in rural areas. Covers challenges to rural healthcare organizations combating this issue, and identifies and discusses policy recommendations for addressing the opioid and heroin crisis in rural communities and in rural healthcare systems.
Author(s): John A. Gale, Dave Schmitz, Michael Meit, et al.
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Correlates to Seroprevalent Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Among Rural Appalachian Drug Users
Examines HSV-2 seroprevalence among 499 drug users in a rural Appalachian Kentucky county, and relevant demographic, behavioral, and social network factors. Features statistics on demographics, sexual behavior, and drug use.
Author(s): Dustin B. Stephens, April M. Young, Ursula L. Mullins, Jennifer R. Havens
Citation: Journal of Medical Virology, 88(3), 512-520
Date: 03/2016
Type: Document
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Rural Opioid Abuse: Prevalence and User Characteristics
Compares non-medical use of opioids, opiates, and heroin in rural and urban areas and assesses socioeconomic characteristics associated with their use.
Author(s): Jennifer D. Lenardson, John A. Gale, Erika C. Ziller
Date: 02/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
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Hospitalizations for Overdose of Pain Medication and Heroin
Presents information on hospitalizations in Pennsylvania for overdoses of pain medication and heroin between 2000 and 2014. Includes data for rural and urban counties.
Date: 01/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council
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Heroin: Combating This Growing Epidemic in PA
A report of public hearings on the epidemic of heroin and opioid abuse and overdose deaths in Pennsylvania. Includes recommendations to the state for treatment and recovery services, as well as maps and statistics by county.
Date: 12/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Caring for Pregnant Opioid Abusers in Vermont: A Potential Model for Non-Urban Areas
Provides an overview of the challenges managed and the approach used for the development of a comprehensive program for the treatment of opioid dependence during pregnancy in rural Vermont.
Author(s): Marjorie Meyer, Julie Phillips
Citation: Preventive Medicine, 80, 18-22
Date: 11/2015
Type: Document
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Rural Adolescents Are More Likely Than Their Urban Peers to Abuse Prescription Painkillers
Provides an overview of the growing epidemic of prescription drug abuse by adolescents in small towns and in rural areas of the U.S., and emphasizes the urgency with which this epidemic should be addressed.
Author(s): Shannon M. Monnat, Khary K. Rigg
Date: 10/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Carsey School of Public Policy
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Where Is Buprenorphine Dispensed to Treat Opioid Use Disorders? The Role of Private Offices, Opioid Treatment Programs, and Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities in Urban and Rural Counties
Examines the impact of 2006 federal legislation allowing waivered physicians to prescribe and expand FDA approved buprenorphine as a treatment for opioid use disorder to a maximum of 100 patients. Discusses buprenorphine distribution by both urban and rural waivered physicians, opioid treatment programs, and treatment facilities for substance abuse.
Author(s): Bradley D. Stein, Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, Adam J. Gordon, et al.
Citation: The Milbank Quarterly, 93(3), 561-583
Date: 09/2015
Type: Document
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