Extended-release buprenorphine outcomes among treatment resistant veterans.

Buprenorphine Extended-Release (BUP-XR) is an FDA approved, monthly subcutaneous injection for opioid use disorder. This formulation provides an alternative for patients who have difficulty adhering to daily sublingual buprenorphine; however, its cost may be prohibitive compared to other medication alternatives. The objective of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of BUP-XR and provide a rationale for its utilization in health care facilitates.

Methadone "callbacks" within a veterans affairs opioid treatment program: Detecting methadone misuse.

Background And Objectives: A "callback" requires patients to bring in take-home methadone doses for inspection. An opioid treatment program (OTP) quality-improvement project examined random versus "for-cause" callbacks.

Method: Eighty-two random callbacks and 60 for-cause callbacks were conducted among patients enrolled in an OTP (N = 183).

Dissolution of a harm reduction track for opiate agonist treatment: longitudinal impact on treatment retention, substance use and service utilization.

Background: There is great need to sustain harm reduction programmes for opiate-dependent persons, given variable retention of opioid agonist treatment (OAT) enrolees. Resource challenges may lead some health organizations to discontinue such programmes, though just as programmatic evaluation may determine efficacy and cost-effectiveness so to does it aid in examining impacts of programme dissolution.

Methods: This retrospective evaluation investigated impacts of the dissolution of a 'Minimal Services' (MS) harm reduction programme for substance-abusing OAT clientele at an urban U.

Taking charge: a pilot curriculum of self-defense and personal safety training for female veterans with PTSD because of military sexual trauma.

The authors describe an overview of the pilot project Taking Charge, a 36-hour comprehensive behavioral intervention involving psychoeducation, personal safety, and self-defense training for 12 female veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from military sexual trauma. Self-defense training can incorporate the benefits of repeated exposure while teaching proactive cognitive and behavioral responses to the feared stimuli, and thus facilitate emotional and physical rescripting of and mastery over the trauma. Results up to 6 months follow-up indicate significant reductions in behavioral avoidance, PTSD hyperarousal, and depression, with significant increases in interpersonal, activity, and self-defense self-efficacy.

Prostitution in Vancouver: violence and the colonization of First Nations women.

We interviewed 100 women prostituting in Vancouver, Canada. We found an extremely high prevalence of lifetime violence and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fifty-two percent of our interviewees were women from Canada's First Nations, a significant overrepresentation in prostitution compared with their representation in Vancouver generally (1.

Making a case for personal safety: perceptions of vulnerability and desire for self-defense training among female veterans.

We assessed perceptions of vulnerability and the desire for personal safety/self-defense (PS/SD) training among 67 female veterans receiving outpatient mental health treatment, primarily for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from sexual and/or physical trauma. Consistent with the literature on the impact of such training on nonclinical populations and on individuals with visual impairments, the results of this study indicate that traumatized female veterans believe that PS/SD training would be an effective and powerful addition to more traditional treatments for PTSD. Study participants indicated they believe such training would positively affect their sense of personal safety; promote increased competence in thwarting future assaults; improve their self-esteem, confidence, and assertiveness; and reduce avoidant and agoraphobic behaviors.