Educational Activities Archives

Patient-centered care has become a crucial approach when working with patients with substance use disorder (SUD). Unfortunately, the care continuum can be interrupted for patients with SUDs, often due to stigma and discrimination. Each interruption increases challenges in access to care and can lead to patient harm. Language can intentionally or unintentionally perpetuate stigma. As people who care for patients with SUDs, we need to learn their rights so we can advocate for them and change our language to reduce stigma. This course will discuss the importance of patient-centered care, improved language when discussing substance use, and advocacy strategies that clinicians can use when caring for people who use substances.

Opioid use disorder (OUD) among women and people who become pregnant is increasing in prevalence in clinical settings. The standard of care is to provide buprenorphine or methadone as a part of a complete treatment approach during pregnancy and beyond the postpartum period. This module reviews the historical and current context of opioid use among women and birthing people during pregnancy. It compares pharmacological treatment options for women and people who become pregnant with an OUD and also discusses the issues with detoxification or medically assisted withdrawal from opioids during pregnancy. Issues related to the treatment of OUD during pregnancy and in the postpartum period for the birthing person, fetus and child will also be discussed (e.g., induction, dosing, pain management, neonatal withdrawal and how to reduce its severity).

Many cities, and especially cities with high real estate prices, have clearly defined zones in which public drug use and sales are implicitly tolerated while more stringent enforcement continues everywhere else. Given that addiction services (like methadone clinics or residential programs) are often mobilized to serve these zones and/or deliberately segregated to remain within them–what should our relationship to these zones be as addiction care providers? The podcast will explore the challenges, problems, and opportunities these zones can create for people who use drugs and the providers who care for them.

In this webinar, researchers from the Social Action Lab at the University of Pennsylvania will discuss a novel, virtual social-behavioral intervention, GROV (Grid for Reduction of Regional Vulnerability), which is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under the DP01 mechanism led by PI Dolores Albarracin. The presentation will showcase how the intervention seeks to foster effective social regulation of community challenges as a way of promoting HIV and HCV testing, preventing overdoses, seeking mental and physical health treatments, establishing social relationships, etc. The research team will delve into the intervention’s design and procedures and share preliminary results during the webinar, followed by a question-and-answer session for attendees.

This webinar on “Recovery Supports for Youth and Young Adults with Opioid Use Disorder,” presented by Dr. Peter Jackson, Medical Director of the University of Vermont Medical Center Addiction Treatment Center and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine. This session, brought to you by the Providers Clinical Support System – Medications for Opioid Use Disorders (PCSS-MOUD), will delve into family-based interventions, school-based recovery programs, and mutual help support. Gain valuable knowledge to enhance your practice and support young individuals on their recovery journey.

Most treatments and interventions for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) require that individuals engage in interpersonal communication with their health service providers or individuals in their recovery support network. However, at the specific moment when people resume their misuse of opioids, they are often alone or with people who enable their substance use. This webinar will provide information on the utilization of paced breathing exercises, delivered by smartphone, for self-management of drug cravings, stress, and anxiety. This session will include an overview of just-in-time interventions for substance use disorders, the biological basis for paced-breathing effectiveness, and user experience results from a pilot study.