Taking Action to Address Opioid Misuse

December 6, 2016

Jeanne Pulvermacher, MS
Project Manager
ATTC Network Coordinating Office

If you scan the headlines in newspapers from across the country, you’ll see a few common words: opioids, heroin, Naloxone, prescription pain medications, drugs, overdose, HIV.  You may recall the 2015 HIV outbreak in Indiana that was fueled by injection drug use, mainly of oxymorphone (Opana), oxycodone, and methadone—all opioids. 

Standing Rock: Observations

November 23, 2016

Sean A. Bear, 1st
Training Coordinator and Senior Research Consultant National American Indian and Alaska Native Addiction Technology Transfer Center 

My name is Sean A. Bear, 1st. I am a member of the Meskwaki Tribe in Iowa and the Training Coordinator and Senior Research Consultant at the National American Indian and Alaska Native Addiction Technology Transfer Center (National AI/AN ATTC) located in the University of Iowa College of Public Health, Department of Community and Behavioral Health.  After a training event in Fargo, North Dakota, Dr. Skinstad (Director, National AI/AN ATTC) and I decided that it was important for me to make a site visit to the Standing Rock site of the pipeline protests to evaluate if there was any need for assistance from our Center to the participants of the demonstration and their providers. 

Eight ways to overcome resistance to medication-assisted treatment

November 17, 2016

Maureen Fitzgerald
Editor, Addiction Technology Transfer Center & NIATx

Outcome studies and research will help get some patients, staff, and community members on board for medication-assisted treatment. But scientific evidence may not convince everyone to embrace a treatment such as buprenorphine (Suboxone®) for opioid use disorders.

And in treatment agencies, lack of staff buy-in can easily sabotage the potential success of any MAT program.

Words Matter in Stories

November 9, 2016

Merlyn Karst

From the Faces and Voices of Recovery Blog

Obviously, history has been made since the beginning of time but wasn’t recorded until relatively recent times. One thing certain is that the travelers, teachers, and troubadours of old told and sang stories that informed and entertained. Circles around campfires and huddles around hearths created communities. The means of the telling have changed dramatically but the personal stories with the important element of humanity provide the power. Tahir Shah, a travel writer, said,  “Stories are a communal currency of humanity.”  We can read and enjoy stories; however, a story’s power comes from seeing the face and hearing the voice of the person with feeling, gestures, smiles, and tears. This is the case for the stories of cancer survivors and of those who have overcome addiction to alcohol and other drugs.

Read the complete post. 

Recovery: It's a global thing

November 2, 2016

Maureen Fitzgerald
Editor, NIATx
Communications Coordinator, ATTC Network Coordinating Office


During National Recovery Month 2016, more than 1100 communities celebrated recovery with Recovery Walks, workshops, and other activities.  

And not all of these celebrations happened in the U.S! 

• A Recovery Camp in Tiona Park, Australia, brought together people celebrating recovery from mental illness. Watch a brief video about the camp here. 

• In northwest England, Faces and Voices of Recovery-UK held its eighth annual Recovery Walk. 

• Recovery Day Canada also celebrates recovery in September, and has been since 2012. 

• And in Ghana, Recovery Africa held its second annual Recovery walk this year. 

Bill White has written a lot about the Recovery Movement, and he shares perspectives from people in recovery from around the globe in these Leadership Interviews on Recovery Around the World.