Tag: OUD

New opioid treatment resources for emergency department clinicians

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) today announced the availability of informational resources for clinicians interested in initiating buprenorphine treatment in emergency department settings. Buprenorphine is one of several medicines available for use in many emergency departments to treat opioid use disorders (OUD). The materials were developed by emergency department specialists at Yale University with grant support from NIDA, and contract support from NIDA’s Clinical Trials Network. NIDA is part of the National Institutes of Health.

Emergency department clinicians face unique challenges when faced with patients suffering from opioid overdoses or other effects of OUD. They can often reverse overdoses using the medication naloxone, however, that medication alone does not constitute treatment for the addiction itself. This makes the emergency setting an ideal place for clinicians to begin treatment conversations with patients, however, there have been few tools available to guide them. Since 2002, emergency clinicians have been able to administer buprenorphine to help patients manage opioid withdrawal symptoms, but the practice is still new in many emergency department settings.

Full story at drugabuse.org

Quantum Units Education: New CEU Courses

Opioid Use Disorder: Partnering Clients, Health Care, and Addiction Professionals

Opioid misuse has caused a growing nationwide epidemic of OUD and unintentional overdose deaths.  This CEU course provides information for professionals working with individual who take a Food and Drug Administration-approved medication for opioid use disorder.

Chronic Pain and Opioid Misuse

The crisis of prescription opioid related harms has focused attention toward identifying and treating high-risk populations.  This CE course reviews the epidemiology and clinical management of comorbid chronic pain and prescription opioid or other substance misuse.

For more on these new courses and many more, visit our course page

 

Quantum Units Education: New CEU Courses

Opioid Use Disorder: Medications, Screening, and Assessment

The number of patients presenting with opioid use disorder (OUD) in medical clinics, community health centers, and private practices is increasing.  This CEU course offers a general introduction to providing medications to address OUD and addresses most personal healthcare needs, development of sustained partnerships with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community.

Opioid Use Disorder: Medications, Screening, and Assessment – For Social Workers

The number of patients presenting with opioid use disorder (OUD) in medical clinics, community health centers, and private practices is increasing.  This CEU course offers social workers a general introduction to OUD medications and addresses most personal healthcare needs, development of sustained partnerships with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community.

Responding to Girls in Gangs

This CEU course identifies girls’ reasons for joining gangs, their experiences and activities related to gang involvement, and their motivations and strategies for transitioning away from gangs.  Also provided are recommendations for those who are interested in improving outcomes for gang-involved girls.

For more on these new courses and many more, visit Quantum Units Education

Quantum Units Education: New CEU Courses

Treating Pregnant and Parenting Women with Opioid Use Disorder

The nation’s opioid epidemic continues to compromise the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities.  This CE course provides comprehensive, national guidance for the optimal management of pregnant and parenting women with an opioid use disorder (OUD) and their infants.

PTSD and Accelerated Aging

Investigators have suggested that aspects of the intra-individual environment, such as psychiatric symptoms, may impact physiology directly and be as important as the external environment, if not more so, in predicting subsequent health outcomes.  This CE course explores the growing empirical literature concerning PTSD-related accelerated aging and the methodologies used to study it.

For more on these new courses and many more, visit Quantum Units Education

Medications underutilized when treating young people with opioid use disorder

Only one in four young adults and teens with opioid use disorder (OUD) are receiving potentially life-saving medications for addiction treatment, according to a new Boston Medical Center (BMC) study published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

Buprenorphine and naltrexone are medications used to treat OUD that help prevent relapse and overdose when used appropriately. In late 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended, for the first time, that providers offer medication treatment to adolescents with OUD.

Prior studies have shown that among all adults in treatment for opioids, one-third started using opioids before age 18, and two-thirds started before age 25. Unlike methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone can be offered in the primary care setting. However, few teens receive medication due, in part, to a widespread shortage of physicians who have received a waiver certification required to prescribe buprenorphine. And, as researchers note, of all of the physicians who are certified in the United States, only one-percent are pediatricians.

Full story of treating young people with opioid use disorder at drugfree.org