Pain is a multidimensional and subjective experience, and an ideal pain management regime needs to be comprehensive, integrative and involve all relevant persons. Multimodal interventions may include pharmacological, physical, social, psychological and spiritual approaches in order to address pain management at a molecular, functional,…

New developments in the treatment of mothers and infants affected by opioid addiction point to the promising effects of interventions that adopt a developmental perspective, occur concurrently with addiction treatment, and target the parent-infant relationship as early as possible. In this article, the authors provide general guidelines for…

As colleges and universities acknowledge the connection between behavioral health and student success, ACTA releases this powerful report calling for a new level of awareness and collaborative action by presidents and trustees to address student alcohol and drug use. The report provides examples of successful, evidence-based programs implemented…

Parental substance use disorders negatively impact a child's development both prenatally and postnatally. Caregivers struggling with substance use disorders, and Opioid Use Disorder in particular, often have difficulty accessing appropriate holistic clinical interventions and are at high risk of losing custody of their children due to abuse and…

Substance use and alcohol abuse during pregnancy are significant public health concerns. Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a withdrawal syndrome that infants exposed to opioids may experience in the first few days of life. For most infants with NAS, exposure to opioids occurs during pregnancy while they are fetuses. Similarly, prenatal alcohol…

Some secondary students use alcohol and other drugs, and because so few receive specialized treatment, school social workers are in the optimal position for delivering brief interventions targeting substance use. Common misunderstandings about the nature of substance use problems and substance use disorder treatment will be discussed, and school…

The 2022 Legislature directed the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to create an advisory workgroup with specific participants to report back on topics related to student isolation and seclusion. This legislative report provides a background on the workgroup, history of isolation and restraint, current practices in the state of…

Gang affiliation is not something that students leave behind when they come to school. Gang members do not leave their behaviors, attitudes, and conflicts outside the school environment. Gangs, unchecked and unidentified in a school setting, often engage in threat and intimidation; physical and cyber bullying; fighting; recruiting; and criminal…

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the goal of screening in student health or other college settings is to reduce alcohol-related harm. NIAAA points out that identifying those students at greatest risk for alcohol problems is the first step in prevention. Colleges and universities have used a number of…

This paper describes a "mindful rational living" approach, which incorporates mindfulness techniques with rational emotive behavioral therapy strategies for addressing HIV in the school setting. The utility of this approach for attending to the physical, mental, and psychosocial aspects of school-based HIV prevention and treatment will…

Adolescence is a challenging time for many young persons. Navigating the academic, personal/social, and career planning challenges associated with adolescence indeed is challenging even with excellent school, family, and community support. For those adolescents struggling with substance use and abuse, these challenges become even greater. School…

This is a report on the New Mexico Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) project conducted over 5 years as part of a national initiative launched by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration with the aim of increasing integration of substance use services and medical care. Throughout the state, 53,238…

Across the country, there are a growing number of students with and without disabilities who are being suspended or expelled from their regularly assigned or zoned schools. There are three primary purposes to this two-part article series. The first purpose is to increase awareness of special education law-focused on the least restrictive…

Tobacco control efforts in the early 1990s, such as the ASSIST program, recognized the importance of mass media intervention in the environmental model, along with community organization and mobilization through coalition building and policy advocacy. Since 1998, the Higher Education Center has recommended that colleges and universities embrace an…

Recent advances in the field of prevention have led to a deeper understanding of the causes of adolescent problem behavior and to the identification of efficacious strategies to prevent delinquency, drug use, and other antisocial conduct. This 2009 Aaron Rosen lecture to members of the "Society for Social Work and Research" traces the evolution of…