Washington — The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has updated its online hub of information and resources on substance use disorder and recovery.

Washington — The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Worker Training Program has published Spanish-language versions of its resources on COVID-19’s impact on mental health and substance use.

The post TFFRS – Substance Use: Family-based Interventions to Prevent Substance Use Among Youth was curated by information for practice.

The post Exploratory Studies to Investigate Mechanisms of HIV infection, Replication, Latency, and/or Pathogenesis in the Context of Substance Use Disorders (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) [Letter of Intent Due Date: July 14] was curated by information for practice.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should lead efforts among federal partners and stakeholders to design, implement, and evaluate a multipronged, evidence-based national strategy to reduce stigma toward people with mental and substance use disorders, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has launched a suite of free resources.

DOVER – Revenue from a new opioid impact fee created by the Delaware General Assembly in 2019 will be used to prevent overdose deaths and provide new services to those seeking treatment for their substance use disorder, the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) and Sen. Stephanie Hansen announced Wednesday. DHSS Secretary Molly […]

DOVER, DE (Oct. 6, 2022) ­– The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) has created new resources and a new webinar specifically for pharmacists as part of its ongoing work to reduce substance use disorder.  DPH has worked with partners in the medical community to develop Delaware-specific, evidence-based education materials, aiming to reduce the risk of […]

DOVER – Tuesday, leaders from the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) joined partner community agencies for a community response briefing to provide the latest information regarding the state’s efforts to address disparities in outcomes related to Substance Use Disorder and Opioid Use Disorder for minority and vulnerable populations. Organized by the DHSS […]

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was in Delaware on August 31, 2023, to review the innovative substance use disorder prevention work that the Department of Health and Human Services is conducting in Sussex County, Delaware. The Division of Forensic Science reported that 537 people died of a […]

NEW CASTLE (January 22, 2024) – Today, Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long and leaders from the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) along with partner community agencies led a community response briefing to provide the latest information regarding the state’s efforts to support individuals facing homelessness and housing instability related to substance use disorder. […]

NEW CASTLE (April 22, 2024) – Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long and leaders from the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), along with partner community agencies, led a community response briefing on Monday to provide the latest outcome data and other information regarding the State’s efforts to support individuals struggling with substance use disorder in […]

NEW CASTLE (Jan. 4, 2022) – The Department of Health and Social Services’ (DHSS) Division of Substance Use and Mental Health (DSAMH) has surpassed a milestone of 100,000 referrals through its Delaware Treatment and Referral Network (DTRN), a system for Delawareans seeking substance use and mental health services. Delaware is the first state to make […]

Cambridge, MA.: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2024

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should lead efforts among federal partners and stakeholders to design, implement, and evaluate a multipronged, evidence-based national strategy to reduce stigma toward people with mental and substance use disorders, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Conduct problems, substance use, substance use problems, and depressive symptoms increase as black adolescents enter high school. Although family-centered prevention programs deter these problems during middle school, no such programs have been developed and evaluated for black high school students.

This study demonstrates that participation in a family-centered preventive intervention reduces conduct problems, substance use, and substance use problems among black adolescents by more than 30% compared with adolescents in an attention control condition across nearly 2 years. (Read the full article)

Primary care settings provide an important venue for early detection of substance use and intervention, but adolescent screening rates need improvement. Screening and brief interventions appear effective in reducing adult problem drinking but evidence for effectiveness among adolescents is needed.

A computer-facilitated system for screening, feedback, and provider brief advice for primary care can increase adolescent receipt of substance use screening across a variety of practice settings, and shows promise for reducing adolescents’ use of alcohol and cannabis. (Read the full article)

Research demonstrates that substance use, beliefs about use, and influence from family and friends can put young adults at risk for DUI and RWDD. Much of this research is cross-sectional and focuses on risk factors identified in young adults.

This longitudinal study emphasizes the importance of prevention efforts in early adolescence at multiple levels to reduce high school DUI/RWDD, because marijuana beliefs and marijuana use by peers and family members during middle school were associated with high school DUI/RWDD. (Read the full article)

NEW CASTLE (July 24, 2018) – Following a 14-month review of Delaware’s opioid use disorder treatment system, a research team from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Bloomberg American Health Initiative today recommended four major strategies to achieve the state’s goal of a system of care that is accessible, evidence-based, individualized, […]

WILMINGTON (Oct. 3, 2018) – As a way to engage more Delawareans suffering from substance use disorder in treatment, while also meeting their accompanying needs for housing, employment, education and other wraparound services, the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) today launched its START Initiative with a press conference and a daylong forum for […]

DHSS Secretary Dr. Kara Odom Walker says, “In the midst of the opioid crisis we are facing in Delaware and across the country, (these facilities) are another resource we can use to better serve our Medicaid clients in need of treatment for substance use disorder.” NEW CASTLE (Aug. 5, 2019) – The Department of Health […]

Title: Teen Impulsiveness Has Different Sources in ADHD, Substance Use
Category: Health News
Created: 4/29/2012 4:05:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

BACKGROUND Pregnant patients from rural counties of Western North Carolina face additional barriers when accessing comprehensive perinatal substance use disorders care at Project CARA as compared to patients local to the program in Buncombe County. We hypothesized regional patients would be less engaged in care.

METHOD Using a retrospective cohort design, univariate analyses (², t-test; P < .05) compared patients' characteristics, engagement in care, and delivery outcomes. Engagement in care, the primary outcome, was operationalized as: attendance at expected, program-specific prenatal and postpartum visits, utilization of in-house counseling, community-based and/or inpatient substance use disorders treatment, and maternal urine drug screen at delivery negative for illicit substances.

RESULTS Regional patients (n = 324) were more likely than Buncombe County patients (n = 284) to have opioid [209 (64.5%) versus 162 (57.0%)] or amphetamine/methamphetamine use disorders (25 [7.7%] versus 13 [4.6%]), but less likely to have cannabis use (19 [5.9%] versus 38 [13.4%]; P = .009) and concurrent psychiatric disorders (214 [66.0%] versus 220 [77.5%]; P = .002). Engagement at postpartum visits was the significantly different outcome between patients (110/221 [49.8%] versus 146/226 [64.6%]; P = .002).

LIMITATIONS Outcomes were available for 66.8% of regional and 79.6% of Buncombe County patients of one program in one predominately white, non-Hispanic region of the state.

CONCLUSION Contrary to our hypothesis, regional and Buncombe County women engaged in prenatal care equally. However, a more formal transition into the postpartum period is needed, especially for regional women. A "hub-and-spokes" model that extends delivery of perinatal substance use disorders care into rural communities may be more effective for engagement retention.

Care coordination is considered a hallmark of patient-centered treatment and has been shown to improve health outcomes and patient satisfaction as well as reduce costs. Defined as organizing patient care activities and sharing information among all participants concerned with an individual’s treatment plan in order to achieve safer and more effective results, care coordination is increasingly...

In any public health or policy issue, it is important to consider the language used to discuss the people affected. The nation’s prolonged opioid crisis continues to touch many communities and families, and the way in which experts and others talk about substance use disorders, their causes, and the solutions is evolving.

This report describes project findings around six touchpoints and four implementation system inputs through which home visiting programs can engage and support families to prevent, identify, and address substance use issues.

This report describes project findings around six touchpoints and four implementation system inputs through which home visiting programs can engage and support families to prevent, identify, and address substance use issues.

Interview with Rebecca N. Dudovitz, MD, MSHS, author of Assessment of Exposure to High-Performing Schools and Risk of Adolescent Substance Use: A Natural Experiment