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The Opioid Epidemic: Helping Communities in Crisis
The opioid epidemic has impacted our families, friends, and communities. The New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) estimates that 1 in 13 New York State residents suffer from a substance abuse disorder.1 Among NYS residents, the number of overdose deaths involving any...
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Harm Reduction: A Bridge Back to Life
Harm reduction is a decades-long, well-established, effective tool in reducing illnesses, deaths, and other negative consequences of problematic substance use (Jones et al., 2022). This approach has never been more important as in the current overdose crisis (Perera et al., 2022). Harm reduction...
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Caring for Yourself: Learning to Live with a Substance Use Disorder
Substance use and misuse have reached epidemic proportions across the United States. In a 2020 survey, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) estimated that more than 40 million individuals across the country over the age of 12 have a substance use disorder, with...
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The NYSPA Report: Overdose Prevention Centers Keep Our People Alive
People with opioid use disorder (OUD) have a high prevalence of a serious mental illness (SMI). Nearly 27% of people with an OUD had a co-occurring SMI (Jones and McCance-Katz 2019), which complicates care when access to dual diagnosis treatment is limited. Overdose deaths have steadily increased...
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Reducing Stigma Through Harm Reduction Interventions
Services for the UnderServed (S:US) is one the largest community-based health and human services organizations in New York State that works intentionally daily to right societal imbalances by providing comprehensive and culturally responsive services. The pandemic has deepened many of the...
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Stigma: How Vocabulary and Language Can Make a Difference
Compassionate language can improve care and change the stigma associated with substance use disorder. The terms or phrases healthcare providers use to discuss substance use are often imbued with negative connotations that create bias. Research shows harm reduction-based vocabulary and education can...
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NIH Launches Harm Reduction Research Network to Prevent Overdose Fatalities
To address the overdose crisis in the United States, the National Institutes of Health has established a research network that will test harm reduction strategies in different community settings to inform efforts to help save lives. The harm reduction research network’s efforts build on existing...
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Behavioral Health News Spotlight on Excellence: An Interview with Mitchell Netburn, President & CEO of Samaritan Daytop Village
Overview David Minot, Executive Director of Mental Health News Education, the non-profit organization that publishes Behavioral Health News, interviewed Mitchell Netburn, President and CEO of Samaritan Daytop Village, a nonprofit organization that has been improving the quality of life for New...
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On International Overdose Awareness Day, HHS Announces Awarding of $79.1 Million in Overdose Prevention Grants
On International Overdose Awareness Day, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is announcing the awarding of $79.1 million in overdose prevention grants, as part of President Biden’s National Drug...
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Recovery and Inclusion: A Viewpoint in Retrospect
Currently we are faced with a delicate dance, between saving lives and promoting and perpetuating a zombie underclass. Tens of thousands are dying from drug overdose each year. Those who are living in addiction inflict on the society, higher healthcare costs, crime rates and human services costs....
