Resources and Programs
UR Medicine Recovery Center of Excellence focuses on evidence-based practices to
help rural communities prevent and reduce the impact of substance use and substance use disorder (SUD).
Our programs are outlined here, with links to more information and resources. Current projects appear first. They are followed by other programs, which are organized under the headings saving lives, expanding access to treatment, and reducing stigma related to SUD. We are updating certain topics and will be publishing those resources soon.
We provide Program Assistance on these and other topics related to SUD and are
here to consult at any stage in your process—from design, to implementation, to
evaluation. Let us know how we can support your work and your community!
Current Projects
We are collaborating with rural communities to expand our shared knowledge of substance use disorder (SUD) prevention strategies that align with rural needs and strengths.
Our current projects focus on best practices to:
Prevent substance use and SUD in youth
Reduce stigma related to SUD and treatment
Manage pain in primary care settings and after surgery
Adolescent and Youth
Growing Resilience
Partnering with rural communities to advance trauma-informed SUD prevention
Collaborating with rural partners every step of the way, the Growing Resilience project aims to promote child and family well-being and improve capacity for trauma-informed SUD prevention for youth. Learning from families, schools, health care providers, social service agencies, and others working with young people, we are working on evidence-based interventions, tailored to the community, to address the impact of trauma and reduce the risk of developing SUD.
Read more
Addressing Rural Adolescent E-Cigarette Use
Pilot program in schools and educational resources to reduce vaping among teens
We are partnering with rural communities in New York State on initiatives to reduce teen e-cigarette use. Guided by input from students, parents, and educators, we are implementing an alternative-to-suspension program to help teens who are caught vaping quit successfully. We are also creating resources in direct response to community needs, including informative videos about vaping and addiction for families and training about nicotine replacement therapy in youth for clinicians.
Read more
Reducing Stigma
Community Conversations on Opioid Use Disorder
Community workshops to reduce stigma
The Community Conversations project aims to reduce SUD-related stigma in rural communities by using conversation to foster awareness and engagement. Workshops bring those affected by SUD, community members, and health care providers together to learn about stigma as a barrier to recovery and, through conversation, develop solutions to reduce stigma locally and better support those with SUD and their families.
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Indigenous Community Conversations workshops explore stigma related to SUD in rural Indigenous communities, stigma’s impact on individuals with SUD and the community overall, and strategies to reduce it. Developed with Haudenosaunee partners, the project aims to overcome barriers to recovery through a focus on community strengths, building networks, and sharing knowledge and support resources.
The Reducing Stigma Related to SUD in Rural Care Settings campaign aims to promote a stigma-free care environment while connecting individuals and families with treatment resources. Posters featuring people in recovery and emergency department (ED) providers who care for patients with SUD are available for display in rural care settings to increase awareness and reduce stigma. QR codes on the posters link to short videos with individuals' stories and treatment resources.
Welcoming Recovery
Supporting recovery by reducing stigma related to medications for opioid use disorder
There isn’t a “one size fits all” approach to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). To help each person find the right fit with their health care provider, this project aims to make all three Food and Drug Administration-approved medications for OUD—methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone—available in rural areas. We are learning from people who live and work in rural communities to better understand how stigma can impact access to medications for OUD. With these insights, we are developing resources to help overcome stigma and expand access to care for OUD in rural areas.
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Pain Management
Pain Management in Primary Care
Equipping primary care providers with best practices and tools for pain management
This project aims to increase access to care for patients with chronic pain and prevent OUD by supporting rural primary care practices in the area of pain management. Through case consultation, training, and tools, we aim to increase rural providers’ confidence as they manage the complexities of pain treatment, including safe opioid-prescribing practices and non-opioid approaches. The resources we are developing with rural partners will be shared broadly with primary care practices around the country.
Read more
Postoperative Pain Management
Promoting best practices in post-operative pain management
In collaboration with rural hospitals, we are sharing and implementing best practices for managing pain after surgery. Establishing clinically appropriate opioid-prescribing guidelines is an important way to reduce the risk of extramedical opioid use (e.g., taking more than what was prescribed, diversion of medication) and OUD in patients who choose to return home with opioids after surgery and to reduce the number of unused opioids that might be redirected in the community. In addition to education for providers, this project offers welcoming and informative materials for patients about managing pain after surgery.
Saving Lives
Naloxone Delivery in Rural Communities
Resources for developing naloxone distribution programs.
Preventing Overdose from Combined Substances
Resources to raise awareness about polysubstance use and prevent overdose.
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
Posters to help rural communities raise awareness about the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Training and support adapted to the needs of service providers and organizations in rural communities.
Assessing programs to support families and protect the lives of individuals at risk for suicide or overdose, as well as Community-led Safe Spaces as a way to expand options for behavioral health crisis care in rural communities.
Treatment Access
Treatment of SUD in Primary Care
Training for primary care providers and staff to help provide more comprehensive care for their patients with OUD or SUD.
Increasing Treatment Engagement Using a Cognitive Behavioral Approach
Training and support for providers and clinics to expand patient engagement with SUD and/or mental health treatment.
Telehealth As a Bridge to Treatment for OUD in Primary Care
Telehealth partnership to provide maintenance buprenorphine treatment for patients as a bridge until buprenorphine can be prescribed locally.
Rural Opioid and Direct Support Services (ROADSS) Program
Program to provide methadone maintenance treatment closer to home for rural residents through auxiliary medication sites or mobile units that are connected through telehealth to an opioid treatment program (OTP) outside the immediate area.
Improving Access to and Engagement Into Care Upon Release from Incarceration
Information on Transitions Clinic Network Programs in primary care settings, which provide care for chronic health conditions including SUD for patients upon release from incarceration.
Behavioral Health Assessment Officer (BHAO)
Licensed behavioral health provider in a rural ED who manages care during the ED visit for patients identified at screening to have SUD or mental health concerns.
Behavioral Health Care Manager (BHCM)
Clinical staff member in a primary care practice who manages care for people with SUD or mental health concerns and coordinates with other providers to ensure uninterrupted transitions to treatment and support.
Creating a Rural SUD System of Care
An approach to increase access to and community-wide support for best practices in treatment for OUD.
Lessons learned on shifting group therapy for SUD to a telehealth format and engaging effectively with patients.
Adapting OTPs to Social Distancing
Lessons learned on adapting an OTP to social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pain Management in Primary Care
Partnership between the center and a Federally Qualified Health Center in rural New York State to provide case consultation about pain management.
Research on planning for and responding to the closure of a pain management practice to ensure patients in a rural community have access to care for chronic pain.
Post-Operative Pain Management
Program in the Southern Tier Region of New York State to establish best-practice prescribing guidelines and alternative, non-opioid analgesic pain-management approaches for post-operative opioids through patient and provider education and an Opioid Explorer Dashboard.
Reducing Stigma
Overcoming SUD Stigma in Rural Communities
Evidence-based solutions for overcoming stigma that focus on the importance of contact with people who have lived experience and education about effective treatments and recovery.
Community Conversations on OUD
Workshops for community members and for health care providers that highlight the lived experience of individuals affected by SUD in rural communities to inspire conversations and reduce stigma.
Adapted Indigenous Community Conversations workshop developed with Haudenosaunee partners.
Reducing Stigma in Rural EDs and Other Care Settings
Poster and video campaign, focused on lived experiences, that promotes a stigma-free care environment and connects individuals and families to treatment resources.
Communicating the Benefits of Increasing Local Access to SUD Treatment
Support in communicating how locally based treatment programs bring positive change.
