NASHP Wins Grant to Improve Access to Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
The National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) has been awarded a two-year grant from the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) to support state initiatives to increase access to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD).
In the spirit of supporting FORE’s focus on addressing the opioid crisis through collaboration, this grant will fund NASHP’s new State Policy Center for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment and Access, a comprehensive forum of state policymakers seeking strategies to improve access to OUD treatment. Information, outcomes, and research will be presented at a new page on NASHP’s website.
The center will convene state leaders, provide technical assistance, develop useful and timely information for states, and promote uptake of best practices that remove barriers to treatment. The center will be a cross-disciplinary and interactive resource hub, designed to speak directly to the needs of state agencies and organizations.
The cross-disciplinary nature of this center underscores the “no-wrong-door approach” to treatment that NASHP will support through this work. While individuals with OUD interact with multiple systems, treatment itself is often accessed primarily though medical or behavioral health systems. Through the center, NASHP will convene leaders of those systems who can directly impact policy – despite the challenges of state structure that can make cross-disciplinary work onerous and difficult to coordinate.
NASHP is one of 19 FORE grantees that will be developing diverse strategies to address OUD. NASHP’s role will be to provide guidance and research to policymakers. Its approach will include state-focused research, model policies, and practical tools that can be adapted to support state-specific activities during the grant period and beyond.
In the coming weeks, NASHP will be reaching out to state leaders across disciplines to engage them in this work. If your state is interested in finding out additional details about this project or ways that it can participate, contact jmanz@oldsite.nashp.org.
For individuals living with complex, often chronic conditions, and their families, palliative care can provide relief from symptoms, improve satisfaction and outcomes, and help address critical mental and spiritual needs during difficult times. Now more than ever, there is growing recognition of the importance of palliative care services for individuals with serious illness, such as advance care planning, pain and symptom management, care coordination, and team-based, multi-disciplinary support. These services can help patients and families cope with the symptoms and stressors of disease, better anticipate and avoid crises, and reduce unnecessary and/or unwanted care. While this model is grounded in evidence that demonstrates improved quality of life, better outcomes, and reduced cost for patients, only a fraction of individuals who could benefit from palliative care receive it. 
