Section V: Resources

• Communications Toolkit (Center for Strategic Prevention Support [CSPS]). Guides communities in planning their communications efforts. Distills key concepts and evidence-based strategies into short, easy-to-read sections; offers interactive activities to help providers understand how these concepts relate to their community’s work in substance misuse prevention; and provides tips, exercises, and worksheets to guide providers in applying what they are learning to the context of their community.
• Do’s and Don’ts of Effective Messaging for Substance Abuse Prevention (Prevention Solutions@EDC [PS@EDC]). Provides general guidance on the design and delivery of consistent and effective substance misuse prevention messages.
• Developing a Social Media Plan to Support Substance Misuse Prevention Efforts (PS@EDC). Provides a framework for developing a social media plan, including guidance for choosing social media tools and creating content.
• Not Your Mother’s Scare Tactics: The Changing Landscape of Fear-based Messaging Research (PS@EDC). Addresses three main questions: (1) What are scare tactics and fear-based messages, and how have they changed over time?; (2) Are these types of messages effective?; and (3) What are the implications of these approaches for prevention?
• Strategies for Working with the Media (PS@EDC). Presents key steps to consider before the media calls, when they call, and during the interview.

• CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain—United States, 2016 (CDC). Provides recommendations for primary care clinicians who are prescribing opioids for chronic pain outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care. These guidelines are currently being updated. Revised guidelines should be available in late 2022.

• National Harm Reduction Coalition. National advocate and training institute that provides information on overdose prevention, syringe access implementation, and policy change.
• Understanding the Role of Harm Reduction in Preventing Opioid Overdose (PS@EDC)

Describes how harm reduction approaches can be used to prevent the consequences of opioid misuse and the role of prevention practitioners in supporting these approaches.

Access to Naloxone

• Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution Program (Mass DPH). Information sheet on where to access naloxone and get training on how to use naloxone.
• org (Mass DPH). Provides information on prescribing and dispensing naloxone, including resources for prescribers, pharmacists, public health workers, and researchers.
• Naloxone: Understanding Its Community Use and Effectiveness (PS@EDC). Presents research-supported talking points on the effectiveness of naloxone and overdose education and naloxone distribution programs.
• What is Naloxone? (SAMHSA). Brief animated video that describes how the opioid overdose-reversal medication operates in the body.

Good Samaritan Laws

• Preventing the Consequences of Opioid Overdose: Understanding 911 Good Samaritan Laws (PS@EDC). Provides an overview of this overdose prevention strategy, including the aims of these laws and types of protections they can offer. Also presents some obstacles that prevent overdose bystanders and the criminal justice system from applying these laws, and steps for raising awareness of these laws among various focus populations.

Safer Drug Consumption Services

• Supervised Consumption Services (National Harm Reduction Coalition). Describes what supervised consumption services are, evidence of effectiveness, benefits, and barriers.

Syringe Service Programs (Massachusetts)

• Municipalities interested in initiating an SSP in their community can reference G.L. c.111 s.215 or contact DPH’ Office of HIV/AIDS for more information.
• com provides a list of existing supervised syringe programs in Massachusetts.
• Syringe Service Program Locator provides a list of cities/town with approval to establish SSPs.

Syringe Service Programs (General)

• North American Syringe Exchange Network (NASEN). Offers policy and advocacy resources to increase understanding and support the use of a variety of SSPs. Includes Strategies for SSPs to guide the planning, design, and implementation of SSIs.
• Reducing Harms from Injection Drug Use and Opioid Use Disorder with Syringe Services Programs (CDC). One-page infographic provides overview of SSPs and their benefits.

Post-Overdose Interventions

• Now What? The Role of Prevention Following a Nonfatal Opioid Overdose (PS@EDC). Describes three post-overdose interventions that have shown promise in reducing the risk of subsequent overdoses and improving other health outcomes among people who have experienced a non-fatal overdose, highlighting the role of prevention practitioners in supporting these efforts.

Medications for Opioid Use Disorder

• Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Improve Patient Outcomes (PEW). Describes how medications for opioid use disorder work, evidence of effectiveness, and treatment gaps.

Intervention Digests

• Environmental Strategies to Prevent the Non-Medical Use of Prescription Drugs (PS@EDC). For each strategy, presents information on the populations for which the strategy was designed, evaluation outcomes that provide evidence of effectiveness, and additional resources (e.g., links to additional guidelines).
• Evidence-Based Strategies for Preventing Opioid Overdose: What’s Working in the United States (CDC). Presents the ten most effective overdose prevention strategies.
• Master List of Evidence-Based and Innovative Intervention for Drug Overdose Prevention (RI Department of Health). Presents evidence-based and innovative drug overdose prevention interventions to guide the development and enhancement of opioid-related work.
• Preventing Prescription Drug Misuse: Programs and Strategies (PS@EDC). Presents brief summaries of prevention strategies and associated programs that have been evaluated to determine their effects on the non-medical use of prescription drugs, including an overview of relevant literature, descriptions of individual studies, and guidelines for use.

• Assessing Community Needs and Resources (Community Toolbox, University of Kansas)

Provides guidance for conducting assessments of community needs and resources.

• Addressing the Social Determinants of Health in Substance Use Prevention (Carnevale Associates). Describes the social determinants of health (SDOH), how the concept of SDOH can map onto more “traditional” prevention frameworks, and how substance use prevention can play a role in large-scale change.
• Beyond the Numbers: Incorporating Community Voice through Qualitative Data (CADCA). Provides an overview of qualitative data and how it can be used as a valid and reliable data collection process.
• Making CLAS Happen, Chapter 3: Collect Diversity Data (MA DPH). Presents tools to assist agencies in the process of collecting diversity data, including tools for updating systems and identifying affordable resources.
• Participatory Asset Mapping Toolkit (Advancement Project, Healthy City). Presents step-by-step guidance for conducting a participatory asset mapping process.

Substance Use Disorders Recovery with a Focus on Employment and Education (SAMHSA). Helps health care providers, systems, and communities support recovery from SUD via employment mechanisms. Describes relevant research, examines emerging and best practices, and identifies knowledge gaps and implementation challenges.

• Brandeis Opioid Resource Connector (Brandeis Opioid Policy Research Collaborative). Assists communities in mounting a comprehensive response to the opioid crisis.  Provides a curated collection of community-focused programs, tools, and resources to help stakeholders choose, design, and implement essential interventions.
• Applying the Strategic Prevention Framework and HHS Disparity Impact Measurement Framework to Address Behavioral Health Disparities (PS@EDC). Explores ways to address behavioral health disparities at each step of SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework.
• Engaging People Who Use Drugs in Prevention Efforts: Benefits & Considerations (PS@EDC). Explores the benefits of engaging members of the drug-using community in prevention efforts and considerations for creating a safe and welcoming environment that supports their meaningful participation.
• Engaging People Who Use Drugs in Prevention Efforts: Strategies for Reducing Stigma (PS@EDC). Explores actions practitioners can take to reduce stigma toward members of the drug-using community in order to better engage them as partners in prevention efforts.
• Making CLAS Happen, Chapter 2: Build Community Partnerships (MA DPH). Presents key strategies and promising practices for developing community partnerships, based on discussions with Massachusetts public health agencies.
• Opportunities for Collaborating with Medical Professionals to Prevent Opioid Misuse (PS@EDC). Presents examples of state- and local-level opportunities for collaborating with medical professionals across settings to plan and support prescriber education programming.
• Opportunities for Engaging Partners to Prevent Opioid Overdose-related Deaths (PS@EDC). Presents different sectors that prevention practitioners may want to engage in opioid overdose prevention efforts, along with opportunities for meaningful engagement.
  • Principles of Collaboration (PS@EDC). Presents six important principles of collaboration.
  • State- and Community-level Partners to Engage in Opioid Overdose Prevention Efforts (PS@EDC). Identifies potential partners whose involvement is critical to preventing opioid overdose.

• A Treatment Improvement Protocol: Improving Cultural Competence (TIP 59) (SAMHSA).

Presents a framework for targeting three organizational levels of treatment: individual counselor and staff, clinical and programmatic, and organizational and administrative. Chapters explore specific racial, ethnic, and cultural considerations along with core elements of cultural competence.

• Community Toolbox: Enhancing Cultural Competence (Community Toolbox). Aids in assessing and enhancing the cultural competence of community efforts.
• Creating Authentic Partnerships with Historically Marginalized Families and Other Stakeholders: Embracing an Equity Mindset. National Center for Systemic Improvement. Presents a continuum practitioners can use to assess the cultural norms that currently exist and think about what changes are needed to create authentic opportunities for partnership that can improve learning conditions and outcomes for historically marginalized populations.
• Cultural Competence Primer: Incorporating Cultural Competence into Your Comprehensive Plan (CADCA). Provides substance misuse prevention coalitions with an introduction to cultural competence and its importance in achieving prevention outcomes that are effective and sustainable.
• Increasing Cultural Competence to Reduce Behavioral Health Disparities (PS@EDC). Includes a description of data collection methods and the Enhanced National CLAS Standards.
• Making CLAS Happen: Six Areas of Action (MA DPH). Offers innovative and practical approaches for incorporating the federal culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) principles and practices into all aspects of organizational activities. Each chapter includes hands-on tools, resources lists, and case studies from public health and social service providers across Massachusetts.
• Practice Guidance: Making Treatment Culturally Competent (DPH/BSAS). Describes how to integrate cultural competence into substance abuse treatment.

Massachusetts-Specific

• Critical Incident Management System (Kelly Research Associates). Allows participating agencies to document overdose incidents and follow-up home visits in real time. Currently used in Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Worcester, and Plymouth counties.
• Current Opioid Statistics: Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MA DPH). Provides quarterly statistics on the statewide opioid epidemic, along with town-specific information.
• Prescription Monitoring Program Reports and Data (MA DPH). Provides summary reports of Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) data, by county. Also includes a PMP fata request form.
• Public Health Data Warehouse (MA DPH). Surveillance and research tool that provides access to timely, linked, multi-year data to enable analyses of health priorities and trends.
• School and District Profiles (MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education). Includes student enrollment and indicators such as student discipline for substance-related offenses. This information may be useful when considering the root causes of the opioid crisis and can illustrate how substance misuse manifests in your local school district and relates to other risky behaviors.

General Resources

• Medicare Part D Opioid Prescribing Mapping Tool (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services). Shows geographic comparisons at the state, county, and zip code levels of de-identified opioid prescription claims; this allows users to see both the number and the percentage of Medicare claims at the local level.
• Office of Data Management and Outcomes Assessment. Provides community-level data to local health department staff, who can use these data to assess health needs, monitor health status indicators, and evaluate health programs. Categories include adolescent-/youth-related, alcohol and other drugs (excluding tobacco), substance use treatment, and recovery services.
• Locating Data on Risk Factors for Opioid Overdose (PS@EDC). Helps practitioners determine the impact of overdose-related factors in their communities; pairs data sources with the specific factors they describe.
• Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area). Provides near real-time suspected overdose surveillance data across jurisdictions to support public health efforts to mobilize an immediate response to a sudden increase in overdose events.
• Preventing Opioid Misuse and Overdose: Data Sources and Tools to Inform Assessment and Planning Efforts (PS@EDC). Presents 16 key data sources for prescription opioids and heroin to inform assessment and planning efforts.

• American Evaluation Association. Provides a directory of evaluators and a number of online resources on the evaluation process.
• Evaluation Tools (Community Toolbox, University of Kansans). Provides an overview of evaluation types and techniques, as well tools for designing and conducting an evaluation.
• Making CLAS Happen, Chapter 3: Collect Diversity Data (MA DPH). Presents tools to help agencies collect data, update systems, and identify affordable resources.
• Traditional vs. Participatory Evaluation (PS@EDC). Defines these two approaches to evaluation and describes some benefits of the latter.
• Working with an Evaluator: Keeping the Spark Alive (Northeast & Caribbean PTTC). Designed to help programs and organizations select an evaluator whose skills match programmatic needs.

• Planning and Implementing Policy, Enforcement, and Media Strategies: A Users Guide (Northeast & Caribbean PTTC). Contains a collection of worksheets, brainstorming questions, and checklists practitioners can use to guide their planning efforts.
• People Power: Mobilizing Communities for Policy Change (CADCA). Provides an overview of the steps associated with engaging in community mobilizing to implement environmental strategies with a particular emphasis on adopting substance use-related policies at the community level.

• Changing the Narrative (Health in Justice Action Lab, Northeastern University School of Law). Network of reporters, researchers, academics, and advocates concerned about the way media represents drug use and addiction. Contains a range of up-to-date, fact-checked, and evidence-based information.
• State without StigMA (MA DPH). Designed to raise awareness of the role of stigma in preventing people from accessing care and steps people can take to be “anti-stigma.” Includes helpline recovery resources and resources for providers.
• Together in Recovery: Supporting Informed Decisions (RIZE Massachusetts). Designed to enrich awareness of the full range of treatment and recovery options by featuring diverse viewpoints and experiences and current research and data.
• Words Matter—Terms to Use and Avoid When Talking About Addiction (National Institute of Drug Abuse). Offers background information and tips to keep in mind while using person-first language, as well as terms to avoid in order to reduce stigma and negative bias when discussing addiction.

• AdCare Educational Institute of New England. Formerly the New England Institute for Addiction Studies, AdCARE provides training on topics ranging from motivational interviewing to opioid overdose prevention, for both new and experienced substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery staff. The Institute offers the Black Addiction Counselor Education Program and the Latino Addiction Counselor Education Program.
• Careers in Substance. Central resource for anyone involved in preventing, intervening in, treating, and supporting recovery from addictions in Massachusetts.
• Center for Social Innovation. Supports public health professionals in delivering recovery-oriented, trauma-informed services to people living with SUD and related challenges.
• Center for Strategic Prevention Support. Provides TA and resources to Massachusetts communities seeking to prevent and reduce the misuse of alcohol and other drugs, including opioids.
• CO*RE (Collaborative for Relevant Education). Provides evidence-based, outcome-oriented, and inter-professional education related to the comprehensive management of pain, addiction, and their comorbidities.
• Health Resources in Action. Boston-based organization dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and create healthy communities through prevention, health promotion, policy, and research. The Community Health Training Institute provides targeted skills development to individuals and teams working to build healthy communities in Massachusetts.
• Local Public Health Institute of MA. Comprehensive and convenient resource for public health trainings. Provides a selection of free “On Your Time” e-learning modules, including the Opioid Epidemic and Substance Use Disorder Primer for Massachusetts Boards of Health and Opioid Epidemic and Substance Use Disorder: Local Public Health in Action.
• New England Prevention Technology Transfer Center. One of 10 regional centers dedicated to building the capacity of the prevention workforce to use prevention research and core prevention skill sets to prevent and reduce SUD, and to deliver services that are both culturally competent and relevant. The Center offers a variety of trainings, including the foundational Substance Abuse Prevention Skills Training.
  • Prescribe to Prevent. Provides information and trainings on prescribing and dispensing naloxone, including resources for prescribers, pharmacists, public health workers, and researchers.
  • Prevention Solutions@EDC. Provides training and expert consultation to support public health agencies and organizations working to address substance misuse and related problems in their communities, including Prevention Fundamentals, a 20-hour foundational substance misuse prevention training delivered entirely online.
  • SCOPE of Pain (Safer/Competent Opioid Prescribing Education). Offers a series of continuing education programs for clinicians on safely and effectively managing patients’ chronic pain through opioids. Online training, a Trainer’s Toolkit, and other resources are available through the Boston University School of Medicine.
  • William James College. Prepares students for careers in behavioral health and leadership. Within its Center of Excellence for Multicultural and Global Health, provides a concentration in Latino Mental Health for students of Hispanic/Latino descent.

• AdCare Educational Institute of New England. Formerly the New England Institute for Addiction Studies, AdCARE provides training on topics ranging from motivational interviewing to opioid overdose prevention, for both new and experienced substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery staff. The Institute offers the Black Addiction Counselor Education Program and the Latino Addiction Counselor Education Program.
• Careers in Substance. Central resource for anyone involved in preventing, intervening in, treating, and supporting recovery from addictions in Massachusetts.
• Center for Social Innovation. Supports public health professionals in delivering recovery-oriented, trauma-informed services to people living with SUD and related challenges.
• Center for Strategic Prevention Support. Provides TA and resources to Massachusetts communities seeking to prevent and reduce the misuse of alcohol and other drugs, including opioids.
• CO*RE (Collaborative for Relevant Education). Provides evidence-based, outcome-oriented, and inter-professional education related to the comprehensive management of pain, addiction, and their comorbidities.
• Health Resources in Action. Boston-based organization dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and create healthy communities through prevention, health promotion, policy, and research. The Community Health Training Institute provides targeted skills development to individuals and teams working to build healthy communities in Massachusetts.
• Local Public Health Institute of MA. Comprehensive and convenient resource for public health trainings. Provides a selection of free “On Your Time” e-learning modules, including the Opioid Epidemic and Substance Use Disorder Primer for Massachusetts Boards of Health and Opioid Epidemic and Substance Use Disorder: Local Public Health in Action.
• New England Prevention Technology Transfer Center. One of 10 regional centers dedicated to building the capacity of the prevention workforce to use prevention research and core prevention skill sets to prevent and reduce SUD, and to deliver services that are both culturally competent and relevant. The Center offers a variety of trainings, including the foundational Substance Abuse Prevention Skills Training.
  • Prescribe to Prevent. Provides information and trainings on prescribing and dispensing naloxone, including resources for prescribers, pharmacists, public health workers, and researchers.
  • Prevention Solutions@EDC. Provides training and expert consultation to support public health agencies and organizations working to address substance misuse and related problems in their communities, including Prevention Fundamentals, a 20-hour foundational substance misuse prevention training delivered entirely online.
  • SCOPE of Pain (Safer/Competent Opioid Prescribing Education). Offers a series of continuing education programs for clinicians on safely and effectively managing patients’ chronic pain through opioids. Online training, a Trainer’s Toolkit, and other resources are available through the Boston University School of Medicine.
  • William James College. Prepares students for careers in behavioral health and leadership. Within its Center of Excellence for Multicultural and Global Health, provides a concentration in Latino Mental Health for students of Hispanic/Latino descent.