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SAMHSA Expands Capacity for Substance Use Disorder
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has announced it will invest $8.3 million for community projects that target a specific population for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment
In its announcement, SAMHSA said the program will make 22 awards of up to $375,000 per year for three years and will allow each community to identify the specific need or population it wishes to address through evidence-based SUD treatment and/or recovery-support services.
NIMH Director Provides Update on HEAL Initiative to Address the Nation’s Opioid Crisis
The director of the National Institute of Mental Health this week highlighted the efforts of the Helping End Addiction Long-term, or HEAL, initiative to address the nation’s opioid crisis that the National Institutes of Health launched last April.
In his message, NIMH Director Joshua Gordon, MD, PhD wrote that among the millions of adults who misused opioids in the prior year, about 40 percent had a mental illness, and about 15 percent had a serious mental illness. He also emphasized some of the research that NIMH has supported to help people with both mental illness and SUD.
“These efforts include those by the Biomedical Development Corporation to explore the role of mHealth efforts in treating opioid use disorder,” Gordon wrote. “These researchers are studying the effectiveness of a software platform that helps patients tracks their symptoms and delivers evidence-based information through web- and smartphone-based channels,” he continued. “NIMH supports this project through out Small Business Innovation Research program, which aims to speed discovery, dissemination, and implementation of effective mental health treatments.”
Meanwhile, the NIMH also sponsors the Mental Health Research Network, which leverages electronic health records at major not-for-profit healthcare providers to conduct large-scale research on a range of topics, including the intersection among opioid use, depression, and suicide.
Wall Street Journal Reports Twitter May Help Identify Spikes in Drug Overdoses
Twitter may help researchers predict upticks in drug misuse and overdoses, The Wall Street Journal reported this week.
According to the story, research shows the social media site provides a quick—and reliable—snapshot of who is using what drugs and where nationwide. By comparison, traditional epidemiological studies can take years to gather similar information.
“Experts hope that by analyzing tweets for drug-related content, they will be able to anticipate spikes in overdoses and prevent them with public health campaigns,” the story noted. “Such research is beginning to pick up as machine-learning algorithms get better at combing through hundreds of thousands of tweets and identifying areas at risk for an imminent increase in opioid overdose deaths.”
Please Participate in the 2019 NABH Annual Survey
Consulting firm Dobson DaVanzo & Associates this week sent NABH members a personalized link to NABH’s 2019 Annual Survey.
Please participate in the survey and share it with others in your organization. Your participation is essential in helping NABH report accurately on the U.S. behavioral healthcare field today. The e-mail message includes detailed instructions.
Thank you for your cooperation!
Please Visit our Exhibitors and Sponsors at the 2019 NABH Annual Meeting!
NABH thanks all of the companies that will serve as exhibitors and sponsors at the 2019 NABH Annual Meeting in March.
Please take a moment to view our Exhibitors & Sponsors page on our Annual Meeting homepage, where you can click on each organization to learn more. Also, please be sure to network with our exhibitors at the Annual Meeting next month.
For complete Annual Meeting details—including the preliminary program and speaker information— please visit NABH’s Annual Meeting homepage. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!
For questions or comments about CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.