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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Substance use and misuse

Prevention of Drug Use and Treatment of Drug Use Disorders in Rural Areas
Discusses the role and potential benefits of engaging rural communities in the treatment and prevention of substance use disorders. Includes a discussion of substance use problems in the rural context, and provides examples of useful tools and evidence-based strategies. Provides a list of additional resources, and a self-assessment tool designed to help identify needs, capacities, and strategies in your community.
Date: 03/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
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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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Use of Cell Phones and Computers for Health Promotion and Tobacco Cessation by American Indian College Students in Montana
Results of a survey given to 153 American Indian students at two rural tribal colleges, designed to inform development and implementation of a text messaging smoking cessation intervention. Features statistics including age, sex, health status, degree of tobacco use, access to computer and cell phone, and frequency of phone and internet use.
Author(s): Jo Ann Walsh Dotson, Lonnie A. Nelson, Sara L. Young, Dedra Buchwald, John Roll
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 17(1), 4014
Date: 03/2017
Type: Document
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Vermont Care Network Advocates for Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Agencies
Highlights the work of the Vermont Care Network, which supports 16 non-profit agencies that provide behavioral health and developmental disability services in the state. Discusses cross-sector collaboration and integration of mental health, substance use, and developmental disability services with primary care.
Author(s): Jenn Lukens
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 03/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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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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Vermont Care Network Advocates for Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Agencies - Video
Video featuring the Vermont Care Network, which supports 16 nonprofit agencies that provide behavioral health and developmental disability services to Vermont residents.
Date: 02/2017
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Treating the Rural Opioid Epidemic
Policy brief reviewing the barriers to implementing effective, high-quality treatment for mental health and substance abuse issues in rural areas. Includes policy recommendations for addressing these issues, focusing on access to medication assisted treatment (MAT) and funding for rural mental health infrastructure.
Author(s): Christine Hancock, Heidi Mennenga, Nikki King, et al.
Date: 02/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Health-Related Behaviors by Urban-Rural County Classification — United States, 2013
Provides data on five self-reported health-related behaviors for residents of rural and urban areas. Behaviors include sufficient sleep, current nonsmoking, nondrinking or moderate drinking, maintaining normal body weight, and meeting aerobic leisure time physical activity recommendations. Includes data for each behavior for metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore (rural) areas, as well as prevalence of 4-5 health behaviors by sex, age, race/ethnicity, and education level. Based on 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data.
Author(s): Kevin A. Matthews, Janet B. Croft, Yong Liu, et al.
Citation: MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 66(5), 1-8
Date: 02/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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