10 Things to Know About Hepatitis

Maureen Fitzerald

ATTC Network Coordinating Office/NIATx

May 14, 2018

1. May is Hepatitis Awareness Month.

One of the most important things to know is that many (millions) may be infected without knowing it. And people who use drugs and alcohol are at greater risk of getting and transmitting viral hepatitis.

Reduce Underage Drinking Today and You Prevent Opiate Use Tomorrow

April 16, 2018

Alcohol Awareness Month

Julia Sherman

Coordinator, Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project 

Wisconsin, like many states, has seen its rate of underage drinking drop in the last decade. Over that period, law enforcement worked with community groups and coalitions to reduce youth access to alcohol. A new state law made it illegal to provide a location for underage drinking—even when adults did not provide the alcohol. In some communities, groups worked with police to make sure residents didn’t leave alcohol in unlocked garages or storage areas—where youth could pilfer it. 

Sometimes we are asked why efforts to prevent and reduce underage drinking should continue when opiate abuse is at crisis levels. The answer is clear—alcohol prevention today is illicit drug prevention for the future. Alcohol is widely available and most often, first substance youth use, earlier than parents realize.  Research has proved that alcohol use in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades has an “especially powerful influence” over lifetime illicit drug use.[i]  Reducing underage drinking today is preventing a future opiate epidemic.

Looking for a job in behavioral health?

April 4, 2018

Maureen Fitzgerald
ATTC Network Coordinating Office/NIATx

You can job hunt from the comfort of  your own home at The Behavioral Health Virtual Job Fair, coming up on Wednesday, April 11, 2018. This online event is designed to help you connect with potential employers in areas with limited access to care.

The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) is offering the Virtual Job Fair (VJF) to make it easier for employers and job seekers to find each other, says Leah Henao, Branch Chief, Outreach, Recruitment and Partnership Branch, Bureau of Health Workforce, Health Resources & Services Administration.

Surgeon General's Report: An Essential Tool for Addressing Substance Use Disorders

April 2, 2018
H. Westley Clark MD, JD, MPH, DFASAM
Dean's Executive Professor
Public Health Program
Santa Clara University

I spent 16 years as the Director of the Center for SubstanceAbuse Treatment trying to elevate the discourse about substance use, misuse and dependence.  It was not until I retired, that the discourse about addiction was joined by the Office of our Nation’s doctor, the Surgeon General. 

In November of 2016, The Surgeon General’s Office released the groundbreaking document, Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health (SG Report). This document, which was the first from a Surgeon General, thoroughly outlined the neurobiological underpinnings of substance use, misuse and dependence, as well as effective, evidence-based treatment and prevention strategies for facing addiction in America. Please join Dr. Clark on the 

Reducing Stigma and Improving Quality of Care: Shatterproof

March 27, 2018

Samantha Arsenault,
Director of National Treatment Quality Initiatives
Shatterproof

More than 42,000 opioid-related overdose deaths last year. Over 2 million people addicted to opioids. Costs to society exceeding $500 billion per year in lost productivity, healthcare, and criminal justice costs. The tragic opioid-related statistics continue to soar—and so too does public awareness about this crisis. Newspaper headlines share heartbreaking stories of loss, advocates work diligently to spread messages of hope, providers deliver care to those in need even in trying conditions, and the President declared a public health emergency. Despite these facts, too few understand that addiction is a chronic disease, and that decades of medical research show it can be treated with the same effectiveness as other chronic diseases.