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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Substance use and misuse

Local Health Department Approaches to Opioid Use Prevention and Response: An Environmental Scan
Summarizes the results of an environmental scan of 198 local health departments (LHDs) regarding their local opioid overdose prevention and response activities. Reports and compares statistics by governance and the size of the population the LHD serves. Discusses efforts and activities related to workforce, clinical and programmatic services, policy, communication, partnership, and data collection. Includes LHD stories from the field.
Author(s): Kamya Raja, Francis Higgins
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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Critical Crossroads: Pediatric Mental Health Care in the Emergency Department: A Care Pathway Resource Toolkit
Toolkit designed to support hospitals that provide high-quality, effective emergency care to pediatric patients in psychiatric distress. Includes case stories from rural emergency departments in various states.
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organizations: Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau
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IHS Needs to Improve Oversight of Its Hospitals' Opioid Prescribing and Dispensing Practices and Consider Centralizing Its Information Technology Functions
Reports on a review of Indian Health Service (IHS) hospitals with a focus on opioid prescriptions and dispensing, information technology (IT), and cybersecurity. Identifies deficiencies related to opioid policies and procedures and supports centralizing IHS IT systems.
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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Unintentional Injury Death Rates in Rural and Urban Areas: United States, 1999–2017
Examines trends in unintentional injury deaths from 1999 through 2017. Provides urban versus rural age-adjusted death rates related to motor vehicle traffic injuries, unintentional drug overdoses, and unintentional falls, with data for 2014 and 2017.
Author(s): R. Henry Olaisen, Lauren M. Rossen, Margaret Warner, Robert N. Anderson
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Psychosocial Supports in Medication-Assisted Treatment: Site Visit Findings and Conclusions
Profiles 5 programs that offer medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD), including several with rural components. Covers psychosocial support offered, staffing and staff training, collaboration and coordination, financing, data collection and quality improvement, lessons learned, and next steps for each program. Discusses the aspects of psychosocial support that are most important for positive outcomes, types of psychosocial support being used, and factors helping or impeding psychosocial support implementation, including stigma and workforce challenges. Appendix B reviews the literature on psychosocial support in MAT.
Additional links: Appendix B: Psychosocial Supports in Medication-Assisted Treatment: Recent Evidence and Current Practice
Author(s): Garrett Moran, Hannah Knudsen, Caroline Snyder
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Team-Based Clinic Redesign of Opioid Medication Management in Primary Care: Effect on Opioid Prescribing
Study examines an opioid medication management redesign in 20 rural primary care clinics. Looks at daily opioid usage rates of long-term opioid therapy patients before and after the redesign.
Author(s): Michael L. Parchman, Robert B. Penfold, Brooke Ike, et al.
Citation: Annals of Family Medicine, 17(4), 319-325
Date: 07/2019
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Guidance to States and School Systems on Addressing Mental Health and Substance Use Issues in Schools
Report provides guidance to school systems and state governments about mental health and substance use in schools. Highlights examples of methods to identify and address mental health issues and substance use in schools. Discusses state-level Medicaid funding for behavioral health.
Author(s): Elinore McCance-Katz, Calder Lynch
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
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The Role of Primary Care in Improving Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment for Rural Medicaid Enrollees with Opioid Use Disorder
Examines the utilization of primary care among rural Medicaid enrollees in rural Pennsylvania diagnosed with an opioid use disorder (OUD). Describes the relationship between primary care utilization, distance to a medication-assisted treatment (MAT) prescriber, and MAT utilization.
Author(s): Evan S. Cole, Ellen DiDomenico, Gerald Cochran, et al.
Citation: Journal of General Internal Medicine, 34(6), 936-943
Date: 06/2019
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Determining Spatial Access to Opioid Use Disorder Treatment and Emergency Medical Services in New Hampshire
Highlights a study on the effect of geospatial determinants on access to opioid use disorder treatment and emergency medical services in New Hampshire. Breaks down data by metropolitan, micropolitan, small town, and rural communities.
Author(s): Yanjia Cao, Kathleen Stewart, Eric Wish, et al.
Citation: Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 101, 55-66
Date: 06/2019
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Pain in the Nation: Building a National Resilience Strategy: Alcohol and Drug Misuse and Suicide and the Millennial Generation - a Devastating Impact
Report highlights the rates of alcohol and drug misuse and suicide among the millennial generation (people in their 20s and 30s). Discusses the role of the opioid crisis in the increases in "deaths of despair" among millennials. Chart on page 6 compares rates in rural and metro areas.
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organizations: Trust for America's Health, Well Being Trust
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