Forward the Bulletin to colleagues with this link: View as Webpage
  • Since the Opioid Response Network launched, we have received 904 requests in every state and territory, held over 3,000 educational activities and impacted an estimated minimum of 1.5 Million individuals. See our STR-TA grant summary.

  • As ORN continues to evaluate our impact, our evaluator, RTI, is looking to learn more about the work of partner organizations. A survey tool to capture this information is in development. Partners are asked to participate by emailing [email protected].
Opioid Response Network Increases Support for American Indians and Alaska Natives
American Indians and Alaska Natives are second only to whites in the rate of opioid-related mortality with 8/100,000 versus 12/100,000 deaths respectively. To help address this crisis, the Opioid Response Network has received supplemental funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to expand technical assistance services focusing on tribal communities . More here.

Pictured (from left): ORN Project Manager, Caroline Gray, MSW; Core Consultant, Holly Echo-Hawk, MSc; and Kamilla Venner, PhD, ORN Technical Assistance Provider and AI/AN Co-Lead
  • The National Alliance for HIV Education and Workforce Development (NAHEWD) is developing a national training product to address the interface of HIV and substance use disorder. Stay tuned for more. The organization has also been assigned technical assistance requests in North Carolina and Texas.

  • The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is building out its webinar series. The first webinar was recorded on June 7th and the rest will be created this summer. These webinars will be shared with faculty and students in social work programs in 50 states. Specifics on content to come.

  • The American Psychiatric Association (APA) launched a Motivational Interviewing Learning Collaborative for 50 participants. Based on its success, APA is going to run a second iteration. Also, over 13,000 members attended APA's 175th Annual Conference where ORN brochures were prominently displayed.

  • The National Council for Behavioral Health (NCBH) is sharing ORN's brochure widely and presented on the ORN initiative to its Board of Director’s Addiction Committee.
  • The Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance use and Addiction (AMERSA) presented to 275 emergency room nurses on addiction data, stigma, their role as nurses on the front line, treatment and how to better engage, support and intervene to improve outcomes.

  • The American College of Physicians (ACP) held its kick-off virtual training webinar titled “ACP Advance: Chronic Pain and Substance Use Disorder Management.”

  • The Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) is encouraging physician assistant programs to incorporate buprenorphine waiver training into its course of study. The association is hosting a webinar event for physician assistant program directors and faculty on addressing common barriers to requiring student MAT waiver training.

  • The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) is submitting to host an ORN “chat-n-chew" at its annual conference. Interested individuals can visit with AAFP staff to learn more about the ORN initiative.
Do you have news to share? Comments or suggestion for the ORN Impact Bulletin? Email [email protected] and [email protected].

Practicing cultural humility means engaging in self-reflection and lifelong learning about how experiences, beliefs, and cultural lens shape identity. Cultural humility recognizes that culture is central in many interactions, including how health and treatment information is received and expressed. Cultural humility entails asking questions respectfully and being willing to learn from people.

"We hope that the ORN Cultural Humility Checklist will be useful in your work with any populations unique from your own. Each of us brings our unique experiences and cultural perspectives to our work. This checklist is intended as a guide for Technology Transfer Specialists, Technical Assistance consultants, and any others in the Opioid Response Network who wish to build self-awareness around how we interact with a range of clients, patients, stakeholders, etc. and to offer suggestions for how to ask questions respectfully and to remain open to learning from others." - Margaret Paschen-Wolff, DrPH, MSW
Twelve States Pass “Right to Know” Laws
 
Utah and Washington are the latest states to pass a Patient Notification Law. The laws require all practitioners to have a conversation with their patients on the addictive nature of opioids before they are prescribed and discuss possible non-opioid alternatives that are available.
 
According to the advocacy campaign Prevent Opioid Abuse , versions of the legislation have passed in California, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Nevada, Oklahoma, Ohio and Rhode Island and West Virginia. Efforts to adopt it are currently underway in six other states and Puerto Rico. In New Jersey the law takes it a step further and requires physicians, physician assistants, dentists and optometrists to complete one Continuing Medical Education credit on topics that include responsible prescribing practices, as well as risks and signs of opioid abuse, addiction and diversion.

More Headlines:
 
Opioid Overdose Mortality and Capacity to Deliver Meds for OUD - In a study of data from 3142 US counties, JAMA finds counties in the South Atlantic, Mountain, and East North Central divisions had more than twice the odds of being at high risk for opioid overdose mortality.

Physicians take steps against opioid epidemic, mortality rises - A new American Medical Association report  on opioids highlights the limited effects of mandates to stem the opioid epidemic and underscores the immediate need for policymakers to focus on removing barriers to evidence-based treatment.

NIH has issued a request for information to gather input from the scientific research and medical education communities and the general public regarding the Centers for Excellence in Pain Education program, general pain, opioid misuse and opioid use disorder education curriculum.
 
The latest blog from NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow , “The Importance of Prevention in Addressing the Opioid Crisis” is available. She says that reducing the demand for opioids by addressing the reasons people turn to them and become addicted in the first place is just as vital and fundamental to ensuring that a new drug epidemic does not follow once the opioid crisis is contained.

Podcast Feature:

Hooked: America’s Opioid Crisis - Addiction Psychiatrist Thomas Kosten, MD explains the state of the opioid crisis in this new podcast from Baylor College of Medicine .
 


[email protected] 401-270-5900
www.OpioidResponseNetwork.org
The Opioid Response Network (ORN) was created as a result of the SAMHSA-funded STR-TA grant. ORN provides free technical assistance to organizations, healthcare centers, single state agencies, and individuals in the prevention, treatment and recovery of opioid use disorder.

Funding for this initiative was made possible (in part) by grant no. 6H79TI080816 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials of publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Copyright 2019 STR-TA