Intersection of COVID-19 and Substance Use in New York State: Policy and Service Delivery Implications

Title: 
"Intersection of COVID-19 and Substance Use in New York State: 
Policy and Service Delivery Implications"

When:
Thursday October 28th, 2021 4:00–5:30pm

Description:
COVID-19 has intensified the already unprecedented overdose crisis in the U.S., with preliminary SAMHSA data showing a 30% increase in overdoses between 2019 and 2020. Other research has reported negative health outcomes related to substance use and COVID-19 including increased alcohol use, elevated positive substance use screens and patients with substance use disorder (SUD) presenting in acute medical settings, and elevated risk for COVID and of adverse COVID outcomes among people with SUD, and illumination of the effects of structural racism related to COVID outcomes, especially among Black and American Indian/Alaska Native communities. At the onset of the pandemic, in response to the need for COVID mitigation strategies, federal SUD treatment regulations were modified to ensure continued access to services, including flexible telehealth processes and extended prescriptions for buprenorphine and methadone. This seminar presents emerging research from New York State focused on the intersection of COVID-19 and substance use highlighting the relationship of behavioral health and SUD, policymaker perceptions of communication with providers regarding regulatory changes, successes and challenges to the implementation of SUD regulatory changes and impact on health equity, and overall access to SUD services. Speakers will focus on policy and service delivery implications informed by these new findings.

Participants:
Aimee Campbell, PhD, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatric Social Work in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and a Research Scientist in the Division on Substance Use Disorders at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI). 

Noa Krawczyk, Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU School of Medicine and a member of the Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy. 

Brandy F Henry, PhD, LICSW, Assistant Professor at The Pennsylvania State University College of Education, affiliate with the Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction, and former postdoctoral fellow at the Columbia University Schools of Social Work and Public Health. 

Timothy Hun, Associate Director of the Social Intervention Group (SIG), the Global Health Research Center of Central Asia (GHRRCA) and a university collaboration called the Center for Healing from Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders (CHOSEN) at Columbia University School of Social Work and brings over 30 years of clinical experience as a family/couples’ therapist, licensed clinical social worker, research scientist and addiction specialist to CSSW.

Amar D. Mandavia, 6th year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Department at Teachers College (TC), Columbia University and a Clinical Fellow at Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.