As people struggle to deal with COVID-19, it’s spurring increased alcohol consumption, yet that increase heightens the risk of contracting a serious case of COVID-19. Alicia Sparks, Ph.D., an Abt senior associate who focuses substance use prevention, explains.
What Kids Are Seeing about Alcohol on Cable TV
Between 2017 and 2019, U.S. youth ages 2 to 20 were exposed nearly 27 billion times to alcohol ads on cable TV, according to a new study from Abt and Boston University. Of these, 565 million exposures (roughly 2%) did not comply with the alcohol industry’s voluntary ad placement guidelines to prevent overexposure to youth.
High-Risk, Long-Term Opioid Prescribing to Military Spouses
The use and misuse of opioids by active service members has been examined in several studies, but little is known about their spouses’ opioid use. This study estimates the number of military spouses who received high-risk or long-term opioid prescriptions between 2010 and 2014 and addresses how the Military Health System can help prevent risky prescribing to improve military force readiness.
COVID-19, Alcohol and Behavioral Health
The impacts of COVID-19 on behavioral health are only starting to surface. Experts say these impacts and care needs will grow over time. What are the strategies that communities and administrators can use to overcome COVID-19-related challenges for intimate partner violence, mental health, alcohol misuse and use disorder, and substance misuse and use disorder?
Developing Clinical Quality Improvement Measures Aligned With the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain
After CDC released its Guideline for Prescribing Opioids, Abt helped the agency develop quality improvement measures for opioid prescribing and management. This article describes how the team and partners developed metrics that were important, valid, timely, useful, needed, and low burden on primary care practices.
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