Resources: Health and Wellness

Serves as a Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Center (ROTA-R) in the South Central region of the U.S. Develops training and offers technical assistance to address opioid and stimulant use in rural communities throughout Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Offers online training resources, technical assistance, capacity building support, and other services to help clinicians, clinics, and health systems provide high-quality HIV/AIDS care. Helps increase the number of healthcare professionals able and willing to offer effective counseling, diagnostic, treatment, mental health, and substance use services to people living with or at risk of contracting HIV.

Develops partnerships between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and community and faith-based organizations. Provides up-to-date information on federal health and human service activities and resources to help local organizations better serve their communities. Focuses on supporting grassroots efforts to address the issues of mental health and youth, opioids and preventing overdose, suicide prevention, and supporting individuals reentering society after incarceration and their families.

Provides training and resources to clergy members, spiritual leaders, and faith communities in rural areas on the various mental health issues faced by veterans, including issues linked to addiction and substance use. Offers education on the resources and services available to support veterans and their family members.

Provides an overview of a 10-year U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) initiative, starting in fiscal year 2020, to reduce new HIV infections in the U.S by 90% by 2030. Outlines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) role in the initiative and strategies for working with national, state, and local partners in efforts to diagnose, treat, and prevent new HIV infections, and respond to potential HIV outbreaks. Includes information on funding for the initiative, priority jurisdictions, including 7 states with substantial rural burden, local plans focused on ending the HIV epidemic, success stories, and resources for partners and grantees.

Shares strategies, considerations, and information for behavioral health and other healthcare practitioners working to expand access to mental health and/or substance use disorder (SUD) treatment for people experiencing homelessness. Highlights 4 case studies of organizations working to address mental health and SUD among populations experiencing homelessness, including a rural specific example located in Colorado.

Serves as a Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Center (ROTA-R) in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. Develops culturally and linguistically appropriate, evidence-based training and best practices on harm reduction, prevention, treatment, and recovery. Offers technical assistance to address substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health to strengthen rural communities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Highlights several programs and opportunities the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is supporting to address the opioid crisis and resources on expanding access to care, connecting resources, sharing best practices, training, and more.

Operates 13 tribally and federally operated residential treatment facilities located across the U.S. to address substance use disorder (SUD) and/or co-occurring mental health disorders (COD) among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth and their families at no cost. Provides a range of education and culture-based prevention initiatives, evidence-based and practice-based models of treatment, family strengthening and recreational activities designed to help AI/AN youth overcome challenges related to mental health and substance use. Promotes holistic, culturally responsive care that integrates clinical services with traditional healing, spiritual values, and cultural identification in a substance-free residential environment to support AI/AN youth in achieving their treatment goals and leading healthy, resilient lives.

Shares the impacts and accomplishments of the Rural Responses to the Opioid Epidemic (RROE) project, co-funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the State Justice Institute (SJI). RROE consisted of 21 rural sites, including their partners in public safety, public health, and behavioral health, that planned, developed, implemented, and/or improved programs, practices, and policies to address substance use disorder (SUD) and overdoses in their communities.

Discusses key considerations for small and rural law enforcement agencies seeking to establish and maintain peer support services. Promotes peer support as part of a wellness strategy for police officers dealing with substance use, mental, or physical health issues related to working in a high stress occupation. Provides action steps for peer support program design as well as promising practices and lessons learned from 3 small and rural departments currently utilizing peer support.

Provides information on mental health disorders and an overview of mental health services for American Indian and Alaska Native individuals and families. Offers information on community and clinical-based treatments and services, including trauma-informed care.

Provides an overview of Indian Health Service's (IHS) Office of Clinical and Preventive Services (OCPS) which is responsible for developing and managing clinical, preventive, and public health programs for IHS that cover a wide range of services, including alcohol and substance use and other behavioral health programs. Serves as an advocate for Native American health issues at the national level. Sets policy and budget priorities for IHS Area Offices and health facilities. Offers technical support to local clinical and preventive health programs.

Interview with Colin Cash from the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota discussing his experience founding and leading the Sober Squad Recovery Movement program. Highlights ways that this program can serve as a model for advancing and sustaining recovery communities during periods of change and disruption.

Interview with Ruby Takushi, Director of Programs for the Recovery Café in Seattle, Washington. Discusses aspects of the recovery cafe model and how it may be used to advance and sustain recovery communities during periods of change and disruption.

Interview with Andre Johnson, President and CEO of the Detroit Recovery Project. Discusses how a peer-led, peer-run, peer-delivered recovery model can be used to advance recovery communities and help individuals maintain recovery during periods of change and disruption.

Interview with Callan Howton, Director of the National Peer-Run Training and Technical Assistance Center for Addiction Recovery Peer Support. Highlights how this model of providing recovery housing can be used to advance recovery communities and help individuals maintain recovery from substance use during periods of change and disruption.

Panel discussion featuring 5 representatives from recovery communities in different regions of the country. Draws on the speakers' experiences working to build successful community-based recovery programs and explores how their various approaches and strategies may serve as models to advance and sustain recovery communities during periods of change and disruption.

Provides training and technical assistance to jails to establish and maintain safe, humane, and effective environments for their populations, including incarcerated individuals, staff, and visitors. Focuses on policy, operational practices, and professional development in a range of core topic areas, including medical, mental, and behavioral health services for the target population.

Interactive map providing broadband and health data at the national, state, and county levels. Includes maps with data on broadband, maternal health, chronic disease, opioids, and access to care. Allows users to filter data by rurality. Helps users explore the intersection of broadband and health to better inform policies, programs, innovation, and investment decisions.

Offers evidence-based, voluntary programs that provide families with regular, planned home visits from qualified health, social service, and child development professionals. Supports at-risk pregnant people and parents with children up to kindergarten entry with resources to raise physically, socially, and emotionally healthy children. Provides guidance on parenting and health topics, such as breastfeeding, safe sleep practices, injury prevention, nutrition, and childcare solutions. Seeks to improve maternal and child health, prevent child abuse and neglect, encourage positive parenting, and promote child development and school readiness.

Shares the results of the Mental and Substance Use Disorders Prevalence Study (MDPS), a pilot program to determine the lifetime and past-year prevalence rates of schizophrenia spectrum disorders; past-year bipolar I disorder, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anorexia nervosa; and past-year alcohol, opioid, cannabis, stimulant, and sedative/hypnotic/anxiolytic use disorders. Includes statistics and data on rural areas.

Serves as a Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Center (ROTA-R) in the Midwest region of the U.S. Develops training, best practices, and provides technical assistance related to opioids, stimulants, prevention, treatment, and recovery. Supports rural communities in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.

Serves as a Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Center (ROTA-R) in the Mountain Plains region of the U.S. Offers training and technical assistance to help address opioid and stimulant use, substance use disorder (SUD), mental health, and other behavioral health issues. Supports rural communities in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

Provides technical assistance to improve and support state systems and local programs implementing the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social-Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children (Pyramid Model) to improve the social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes of young children with, and at risk for, developmental disabilities or delays. Works with early childhood programs to reduce the use of inappropriate discipline practices, promote family engagement, use data for decision-making, integrate early childhood and infant mental health consultation, and foster inclusion.

Delivers information, resources, technical assistance, and training to K-12 schools and institutions of higher learning to assess school climate, implement evidence-based programs to improve learning conditions, and measure outcomes in 3 core areas: providing a well-rounded education, improving the safety and health of students, and improving the effective use of technology. Offers multiple products, policy guides, toolkits, research, media, online events and training related to issues of substance and opioid misuse for students, families, schools, and communities.

Provides healthcare providers with free and confidential consultation services and clinical resources on HIV/AIDS-related topics, such as testing, prevention, treatment, and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Includes online and phone-based advice from leading clinicians with expert knowledge on managing HIV/AIDS, perinatal HIV, hepatitis C, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), substance use, and exposure to bloodborne pathogens.

Shares guidance to support the design, development, implementation, and quality improvement of behavioral health program to best meet the needs of individuals who experience a mental health crisis. Defines national guidelines for crisis care and outlines tips and tools to support those guidelines. Includes discussion of unique challenges rural and frontier communities face, and recommends approaches for those working with rural and frontier populations focused on increasing access to behavioral health crisis services.

Provides a directory of national, state, and local programs and services to support recovery, rehabilitation and community reintegration for military service members, veterans, their families, and caregivers. Helps connect individuals to a range of services and resources, including substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery support.

Offers access to national and state-level survey data on the health status of children in the U.S. Includes data on children ages 0-17 and examines factors related to the well-being and healthcare needs of children, including accessing and using healthcare services, family relationships and health, school and after school activities, and neighborhood characteristics. Includes data on physical and mental health conditions, health insurance type and status, healthcare access and utilization, specialty care, nutrition, health activities, and more.

Assists schools and school districts with the implementation of a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework to improve students' social, emotional, and physical well-being, reducing disruptive behavior, and creating a positive learning environment. Uses a multi-tiered framework that reaches all students while allowing for more focused intervention and support for at-risk students and students with disabilities. Includes resources and blueprints for implementing school-wide responses to the opioid crisis and substance use. Offers direct onsite technical assistance to district and state leadership teams as well as indirect assistance through online resources, national and regional conferences, and collaborations with other technical assistance centers and organizations.

Serves as a Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Center (ROTA-R) providing training and technical assistance to address opioids, stimulants, and other substances impacting rural communities in New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Serves as a Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Center (ROTA-R) in the Northwest region of the U.S. Provides support, technical assistance, and training to address opioid use disorder (OUD) and stimulant use throughout rural areas in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

Allows local organizations, providers, state and local health departments, and other stakeholders to add a free, customizable version of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) opioid overdose website to their own websites. Helps communities disseminate online, current CDC opioid information and resources, as well as training on the CDC guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain.

Offers comprehensive information and resources on the use of prescription opioids, managing chronic pain, and opioid use disorder (OUD) for patients and providers, specifically for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities and Indian Health Service (IHS) providers. Includes online tools, technical assistance resources, guides, and training for patients and providers on topics such as opioid crisis data, opioid prevention, proper pain management, opioid prescribing/stewardship, culturally appropriate practices, maternal health, harm reduction, naloxone use, drug checking, child health and wellness, medication-assisted treatment (MAT), tele-MAT, trauma-informed care, best practices, supportive services, wellness courts, and training opportunities. Resource is an initiative of the IHS Alcohol and Substance Abuse Branch (ASAB).

Serves as a Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Center (ROTA-R) in the Pacific Southwest region of the U.S. Shares training opportunities, shares information, and offers technical assistance to help rural communities address opioid and stimulant use throughout Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and the Pacific jurisdictions.

Highlights discussion and policy priorities from an August 2022 virtual roundtable meeting focused on increasing awareness and understanding of the barriers and challenges related to buprenorphine access in pharmacy settings in the U.S. Includes specific observations and recommendations to improve buprenorphine access in pharmacy settings in rural areas.

Serves as a Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Center (ROTA-R) offering training and technical assistance to address substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health, including prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts. Supports rural communities in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Provides literature reviews on rural health priorities identified in the Rural Healthy People 2030 survey. Includes chapters on the issues of addiction, rural substance misuse, mental health and mental disorders, chronic pain, and more. Seeks to inform rural policymakers, providers, advocates, and other stakeholders to promote the health of people living in rural communities.

Video recording sharing highlights from a December 13-14, 2018 workshop in Knoxville, Tennessee attended by rural sheriffs and judges. Workshop hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to brainstorm ideas and discuss new methods to address the opioid crisis.

Provides an overview of rural tribal health. Answers frequently asked questions on the topic, details successful rural model program examples, and links to additional resources and information for funding, events, and related organizations.

Offers information and resources on challenges faced by children and youth, such as those related to bullying, mental health, substance use, and violence. Highlights several Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) programs for educators and parents, including Project AWARE, Trauma-Informed Services in Schools (TISS), and the campaign "Talk. They Hear You."

Provides an overview of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Office of Tribal Affairs and Policy (OTAP) that seeks to address behavioral health issues facing American Indian and Alaska Native populations. Details programs, policy and advisory resources, and supports to promote self-sufficiency, prevent and treat substance use disorder (SUD), offer recovery and support services, reduce violence and suicide rates, and increase access to behavioral health services.

Serves as a Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Center (ROTA-R) in the Southeast region of the U.S. Develops training and provides technical assistance to address opioid and stimulant use in rural communities. Supports rural communities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Offers free, confidential, and anonymous support to Native American individuals who are victims of domestic and sexual violence and their family members. Provides immediate support, crisis intervention, and other culturally appropriate information and services. Call or text 1-844-762-8483 to get help. An online chat option is also available on the program website. Service is available 24 hours a day, 7 a week.

Details a school-centered pilot project that examined implementing strategies to prevent youth substance use and risky sexual behaviors in high-risk rural communities in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Highlights efforts to address related issues of HIV, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), teen pregnancy, and high-risk substance use through education, primary prevention, and early detection screening. Program activities included implementing new health curricula, partnering with health departments and community drug-free coalitions, and developing and distributing informational products and video campaigns.

Provides an overview of the Title V Maternal Child Health Services Block Grant (MCHB) that works to support and improve the health and well-being of mothers, children, and families. Discusses the goals of Title V funding, who receives MCHB funds and services, how outcomes are measured, and other resources provided through the program.

Serves as a planning resource for schools and stakeholders interested in implementing the Teens Linked to Care (TLC) program, an integrated prevention strategy to address both substance use and risky sexual behavior in youth living in rural communities. Outlines the 4 phases of the TLC program, and shares tools and other resources to help schools support sexual health and substance use education and policies.

Provides training and technical assistance to help tribal jurisdictions develop new or strengthen existing healing to wellness courts. Offers up-to-date resources on effective, evidence-based strategies to address alcohol and substance use issues among justice-involved juveniles and adults in tribal areas using a treatment court model that incorporates culturally appropriate services, trauma-informed approaches, and traditional healing practices.

Provides access to education materials developed by the VA Pharmacy Benefits Management Services (PBM) Academic Detailing Services (ADS) sharing evidence-based treatments to help providers improve the health of veterans. Offers provider and patient education tools and outreach resources to encourage evidence-based decision making for a variety of medical conditions and diseases, including opioid use disorder (OUD) and substance use disorder (SUD), pain, harm reduction, suicide, dementia, depression, HIV, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and more.

Describes the enterprise-wide initiatives currently supported by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Rural Health. Shares the work of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) national programs to provide healthcare services in VA hospitals and health systems to veterans residing in rural areas across the nation. Outlines programs to address primary care, specialty care, mental health, care coordination, workforce training and education, transportation, and more. Includes virtual training for providers on substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery, as well as a pharmacy-based program to increase access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for rural veterans with opioid use disorder.

Describes a patient-centered approach to healthcare that supports veterans' overall physical, mental, and emotional health and wellness through a personalized health plan and health inventory assessment. Includes veteran-led wellness courses. Offers educational materials, online tools, mobile applications, videos, and resources designed to assist veterans in adopting whole health approaches and for healthcare providers in implementing a whole health perspective in their clinical practices.

Offers evidence-based information, recommendations, guides, and tools to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) healthcare providers and patients to assist in the decision making process to improve the health and treatment of patients with chronic pain. Includes information and algorithms for determining the appropriateness, risks, duration, and frequency of opioid therapy to prioritize safe and effective opioid prescribing practices.

Provides information for state and local early intervention systems regarding the prevalence of infants and toddlers prenatally exposed to substances, and resources and supports needed to promote positive outcomes for these infants and their families. Shares links to key research, policy, guidance, state examples, and evidence-based practices for supporting young children exposed prenatally to substances and their families.