February 2, 2018
What’s New
NEMJ: The Challenging Quest to Improve Rural Health Care. The New England Journal of Medicine has a new article (subscription required) in its current edition that reviews the history of federal policy for rural health and examines current challenges that include widening disparities in life expectancy, sustainability of rural hospitals, tackling the opioid epidemic and the shortage of rural health workforce.
Teen Attitudes Toward Alcohol and Drug Use. Last week was National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week, an annual observance promoted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to foster a science-based understanding among teenagers of drugs, alcohol and addiction. Since 1975, a NIDA-funded survey called Monitoring the Future has asked teens aged 12 to 17 about their attitude and behavior toward substance use. The most recent survey showed that opioid misuse is at historic lows for teens but that vaping and marijuana use are more popular. The findings on teen opioid use is similar to an October report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that showed a decline in past-month drug use among teenagers in rural areas.
Continue reading “Announcements from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy”