Why Addiction is a Chronic Disorder

Webinar

Peer Recovery as an Evidence-Based Practice: From Science to Impact

The presentation focuses on how peer recovery models of care can help rural recovery communities from three perspectives. Dr. Kelly explains his research from the Recovery Research Institute on peer recovery centers, and reviews the evidence behind how these centers support and encourage long-term recovery. Dr. Depman addresses strategies, benefits, and challenges incorporating peer recovery models of care into that setting for OUD and AUD, based on his experience utilizing peer recovery coaches in the Emergency Department (ED) at Central Vermont Medical Center, a community hospital serving a rural population. Liza Ryan–a certified peer recovery coach in rural Lamoille County, VT, and a person in recovery for over 7 years–explains how her work is affected by serving a rural community.

Improving Prevention and Care Outcomes for LGBTQ People: Safer Spaces and Better Data Collection

This article describes key points in a presentation given by Dr. Blosnich (Assistant Professor and Director of the Center for LGBTQ+ Health Equity at the University of Southern California’s Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work). Dr. Blosnich discussed “how LGBTQ people with SUD contend not just with stigma related to SUD, but with stigma related to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), which can be unintentionally yet overtly part of the health care experience in rural areas.”

For Two Award Winning Authors, Community is Crucial to Overcoming the Opioid Crisis

This article summarizes important points from the keynote speeches given by two award-winning authors at the Taking Action Summit in 2022.
“Sam Quinones and Beth Macy have spent much of their careers as journalists and authors covering this nation’s overdose crisis. Quinones’s works include his bestseller Dreamland and new book The Least of Us, and Macy’s include her bestseller Dopesick, which became a series on Hulu, and recently released Raising Lazarus. Although these authors have focused on different aspects of the crisis, in their keynote speeches they shared an overarching conviction. Community engagement—and the sense of purpose and belonging it gives rise to—is capable of turning the tide.”

Crossing Miles to Save Lives: Touchless Naloxone Delivery in Rural Communities

Naloxone can counteract the life-threatening effects of an opioid overdose. As communities confront overdoses involving synthetic opioids that may require higher doses of naloxone, naloxone distribution is critical.
In this webinar, Gloria Baciewicz (Strong Recovery) and Patrick Seche (UR Medicine Recovery Center of Excellence) discuss targeted naloxone distribution, including how to establish a program, addressing how to become a registered program, how to get trained, how to provide training, how to acquire naloxone for distribution, how to distribute it to trained providers, and innovative methods for remote/virtual training and “no touch” delivery (e.g., by mail) to expand access to naloxone in rural areas.

A Campaign to Reduce Stigma

“Individuals impacted by opioid use disorder (OUD) met with artist Charmaine Wheatley to have their portraits painted. These portraits include the words of these Appalachian community members to humanize the crisis, thereby reducing the stigma associated with OUD.”

Bridging the Gap: Telemedicine as a Path to Primary Care Pharmacotherapy for Opioid Use Disorder

In this webinar, Dr. Holly Russell and Michele Lawrence of UR Medicine Recovery Center of Excellence discuss telemedicine MOUD as a bridging strategy. They go through key questions involved in implementing a program, including how to plan and implement the use of a telemedicine “bridge,” and how to reach key populations with such a program. The bridge approach provides the community time to heal and develop trust, and also ensures physicians time to become trained in MOUD and build the necessary care management infrastructure into their practice for OUD treatment. Finally, the bridge connects patients with local access to the medication that is critical to their recovery and survival,

Insurance for Recovery Housing

Purchasing insurance for your recovery house is different from insuring your own home. Recovery housing insurance is nuanced and may require discussions with your board and insurance agent, and not all insurance agents are skilled in recovery housing insurance. You may have to look at other insurance companies to get appropriate coverage.

Critical Role of Peer Specialists in Recovery

This article summarizes the discussion about the important role of Peer Recovery Specialists during a breakout session at the 2022 Taking Action Summit.
“As jail liaison for Santa Cruz County Justice Court in Arizona, Martin Felix has seen what peer specialists can do. He recalled waking up with tubes in his body after an overdose put him in a coma for three days. He now recognizes that his own extraordinary recovery is what gives him the credibility to reach others and offer them hope. He believes the perspective and insight that come from lived experience are “the special sauce” that enables peer specialists to relate to other people with substance use disorder (SUD) and guide them to recovery.”

Rural Opioid and Direct Support Services (ROADSS) for Methadone Maintenance Treatment

This article discusses the Rural Opioid and Direct Support Services (ROADSS) program, and provides a toolkit including an implementation packet, staffing plan, sample job descriptions, and an onboarding checklist.