Substance Use and Misuse in Rural Areas – Resources

Substance Use Disorder: Reliable Data Needed for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant Program
Reviews what is known about the number of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment facilities and services, overall treatment capacity, and barriers to expanding capacity. Describes the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SABG), State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis (STR) and State Opioid Response (SOR) programs, and examines how seven states utilized these programs. Evaluates the data used to assess the effectiveness of these programs, and offers recommendations to improve the reliability of data collected on individuals served by the SABG program.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2020
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details

Promoting Access to Care for Women of Reproductive Age with Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders in Rural Communities
Report highlights the barriers to mental healthcare and substance use disorder treatment for rural women of reproductive age. Discusses continuity of care, access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT), and workforce shortages among other barriers. Presents recommendations, such as telehealth and care coordination, and provides program examples from different states.
Date: 11/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, Georgia Health Policy Center
view details

Rates of Alcohol-Induced Deaths Among Adults Aged 25 and Over in Urban and Rural Areas: United States, 2000–2018
Examines trends in alcohol-induced deaths among adults aged 25 and over. Includes data by sex for urban and rural residents from 2000 through 2018, with information for metropolitan, micropolitan, and non-core areas.
Author(s): Merianne Rose Spencer, Sally C. Curtin, Holly Hedegaard
Date: 10/2020
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
view details

Building Capacity for Medication Assisted Treatment in Rural Primary Care Practices: The IT MATTTRs Practice Team Training
Evaluates IT MATTTRs, a training intervention for primary care practice (PCP) teams regarding medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder. Compares in-person training to web-based training through Project ECHO. Discusses the implementation of the training program, participant satisfaction, and impact on participants' perceived ability to deliver MAT.
Author(s): Linda Zittleman, Kristen Curcija, Christin Sutter, et al.
Citation: Journal of Primary Care and Community Health, 11
Date: 09/2020
view details

Crisis Services: Meeting Needs, Saving Lives
Presents the National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care Best Practices Toolkit and a number of companion papers on crisis care. Toolkit highlights best practices for crisis care and the papers discuss a number of related topics, including homelessness, substance use, opioid-related deaths, and rural and frontier areas, among other issues.
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
view details

Strategies for the Delivery of Behavioral Health Crisis Services in Rural and Frontier Areas of the U.S.
Report highlights the challenges of providing behavioral health crisis services to rural and frontier communities. Details the barriers to crisis service delivery such as lack of transportation, travel distance, and broadband access, among others. Includes a discussion on the effect of COVID-19 pandemic rural crisis service delivery.
Author(s): Kristin A. Neylon
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
view details

Alcohol Use Disorder: Addressing Stigma and Treatment Access in Rural America
Examines alcohol use and misuse in rural America. Features the work of healthcare providers in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico. Discusses stigma, treatment access, and recovery. Addresses the impact of COVID-19 on treatment access, including the use of telehealth.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details

Strategies for Rural Communities for Addressing Substance Misuse among Families Involved with the Child Welfare System
Describes nine programs across seven states that have addressed challenges to serving child welfare-involved parents with substance use issues through mentoring, case management, providing access to treatment and affordable housing, and other support services. Discusses considerations for expanding and replicating these programs in rural communities.
Additional links: Research Summary
Author(s): Jung Kim, Elizabeth Clary, Christina Ribar, Sarah Palmer, Elizabeth Weigensberg
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organizations: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Mathematica
view details

Drug Education and Cessation Programs Help Teens Avoid or Quit Vaping
Highlights vaping education programs reaching rural schools in California and Tennessee, as well as a multi-state program helping teens in 18 states quit vaping.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details

Engaging Critical Access Hospitals in Addressing Rural Substance Use
Provides a framework for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to identify and address substance use needs in their communities. Includes examples of rural CAH substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery strategies.
Author(s): John Gale, Sara Kahn-Troster, Zachariah Croll, Nathan First
Date: 06/2020
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
view details