Literature Collection

BACKGROUND: Pregnant and post-partum women with opioid dependence are an extremely vulnerable population within correctional facilities. A significant number of maternal inmates, however, still lack adequate provision of medications for opioid use disorder (OUD) and are subsequently forced into withdrawal. Currently, there exist no comprehensive reviews on the scope of literature regarding the management of this population. We aimed to provide a review on the research surrounding these women. DESIGN: A systematic search of PubMed Central was conducted to identify studies evaluating OUD among pregnant and post-partum incarcerated women. Citations from only the last 20 years were included to ensure both relevance and scope of information. RESULTS: The topics that emerged from this review included medications for OUD (MOUD) administration vs detoxification practices, treatment upon incarceration and upon release, and maternal and fetal outcomes. Across all articles, current care management of this population appeared inadequate. We further compiled all author recommendations and perspectives into a framework that can inform potential improvements in care coordination. CONCLUSIONS: This review identifies significant gaps in current management-particularly regarding administration of MOUDs-and emphasizes the need for standardization of addiction-related and perinatal healthcare. We also highlight gaps in the literature and potential areas for future research.

Using the social determinants of health (SDOH) framework, the current study aimed to examine opioid literacy and the role of SDOH on opioid literacy. This study used a cross-sectional survey design to collect self-reported data from people living in four rural Alabama counties affected by the opioid crisis. Participants reported moderate levels of opioid knowledge. There were no significant predictors of general knowledge. For opioid overdose knowledge, the strongest individual predictors were educational level (Bachelor's degree) and self-rated financial strain, which contributed to higher scale scores. For the models evaluating opioid overdose response knowledge, the strongest individual predictors were minority status (inverse), self-rated mental health, and interpersonal safety. Our findings indicate that SDOH, such as financial strain and interpersonal safety, are significantly linked to opioid literacy. Educational efforts to enhance opioid literacy, proper usage, and management in rural counties should consider SDOH factors. Findings further outline the team's integrative approach to developing intervention strategies for opioid treatment and recovery that can benefit the northwest Alabama community and beyond. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 61(10), 52-59.].

INTRODUCTION: Fatal overdoses from opioids increased four-fold from 1999 to 2009, and they are now the leading cause of death among Americans under 50. Legislation has been passed by every state to increase access to naloxone but dispensing by community pharmacies remains low. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to pilot test a proactive opioid overdose counseling intervention and a passive naloxone intervention, and the implementation strategies developed to support their delivery, in rural community pharmacies on relevant implementation outcomes. METHODS: The interventions, implementation strategies, and the overall pilot study approach were developed in a collaborative partnership with a regional supermarket pharmacy chain. They selected 2 rural pharmacies to participate in the pilot study and 2 non-intervention pharmacies to serve as comparison sites. Two interventions were pilot tested in the 2 intervention pharmacies: 1)a proactive opioid overdose counseling intervention and 2) a passive naloxone intervention. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was utilized to evaluate adoption, feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness outcomes after the 3-month observation period. RESULTS: Between the 2 intervention pharmacies, 130 patients received the opioid overdose counseling intervention. 44 (33.8%) were prescribed and dispensed naloxone. Zero naloxone prescriptions were written or dispensed at the comparison pharmacies. Interviews with pharmacy staff found the interventions to be feasible, acceptable, and appropriate in their settings. CONCLUSION: This small scale pilot study in partnership with a regional supermarket pharmacy chain had positive results with a third of patients who received the opioid overdose counseling intervention being dispensed naloxone. However, the majority of patients did not receive naloxone indicating additional revisions to the intervention components and/or implementation strategies are needed to improve the overall impact of the interventions.

OBJECTIVES: To prevent opioid-related mortality, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) developed a national Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) program. SETTING: VHA's OEND program sought national implementation of OEND across all medical facilities (n = 142). PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: This paper describes VHA's efforts to facilitate nationwide health care system-based OEND implementation, including the critical roles of VHA's national pharmacy services and academic detailing services. PRACTICE INNOVATION: VHA is the first large health care system in the United States to implement OEND nationwide. Launching the national program required VHA to translate a primarily community-based public health approach to OEND into a health care system-based approach that distributed naloxone to patients with opioid use disorders as well as to patients prescribed opioid analgesics. Key innovations included developing steps to implement OEND, pharmacy developing standard naloxone rescue kits, adding those kits to the VHA National Formulary, centralizing kit distribution, developing clinical guidance for issuing naloxone kits, and supporting OEND as a focal campaign of academic detailing. Other innovations included the development of patient and provider education resources (e.g., brochures, videos, accredited training) and implementation and evaluation resources (e.g., technical assistance, clinical decision support tools). EVALUATION: Clinical decision support tools that leverage VHA national data are available to clinical staff with appropriate permissions. These tools allow staff and leaders to evaluate OEND implementation and provide actionable next steps to help them identify patients who could benefit from OEND. RESULTS: Through fiscal year 2016, VHA dispensed 45,178 naloxone prescriptions written by 5693 prescribers to 39,328 patients who were primarily prescribed opioids or had opioid use disorder. As of February 2, 2016, there were 172 spontaneously reported opioid overdose reversals with the use of VHA naloxone prescriptions. CONCLUSION: VHA has successfully translated community-based OEND into health care system-based OEND targeting 2 patient populations. There is a tremendous amount that can be learned from VHA's experience implementing this novel health care innovation nationwide.