Dennis Watson

📢 Just out: Our special issue on MOUD access & care in Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, co-edited by me & Basia Andraka-Christou. It features research on initiatives funded by major opioid legislation. Read it here: lnkd.in/gEkMu_gb #MOUD #SUD #harmreduction

DOJ Declares Slew of DEI Practices Unlawful in Memo The nine-page memo builds on the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

🚨 Breaking News | Justice Department Declares DEI Unlawful

The nine-page memo builds on the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs. bit.ly/4l091FL

#HigherEd #EDUSky #AcademicSky

What are Peer Support Specialists? What Do We Know About Them? Most Americans think it’s difficult to find care for substance use issues. In fact, less than one-third of the U.S. population (28%) lives in an area where there are enough mental health professionals...

What do we actually know about peer support specialists? This piece dives into the role peer workers play in behavioral health. I'm curious what others are seeing in the field—especially around workforce development.

chestnut.org/about/newsro...

#peersupport #recovery #behavioralhealth

Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose and

If the plan to use “evidence-based,” practices, the evidence for harm reductioncannot be ignored or pushed to the side.

#HarmReduction #HousingFirst #PublicHealth

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose and

By labeling behavioral health and homelessness a criminal problem, this order is a harmful distraction: www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

What we’re really dealing with is inequality: lack of housing, healthcare, and support—not “disorder.”

#HarmReduction #HousingFirst #PublicHealth

Fitting for today’s cat fight.

Peer International Exchange Podcast · Justin S. Bell, PhD · Peer International Exchange (PIE) is a podcast spotlighting the voices of peer support workers and volunteers around the world. Hosted by Dr. Justin Bell, the show expl...

🎙️ Exciting news: Dr. Justin Bell just launched his new podcast Peer International Exchange—exploring behavioral health, community research, and impact.

Now on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/1z8c1wZ...

#peersupport #recovery

Response to a peer telehealth intervention for emergency department patients presenting with opioid use disorder or unintentional overdose: a stratified interrupted time series analysis - Substance Ab... Background People in the United States who use opioids frequently use emergency department (ED) services. Some hospitals have begun placing peer recovery support specialists (PRSS) in EDs to support a...

New pub led by Martha Tillson! 📢 ED-based telehealth peer support didn’t reduce overall revisits—but showed promise for women. Important insights for gender-responsive OUD care.
Read here: doi.org/10.1186/s130...
#OUD #HarmReduction #Telehealth #Peers

CHW Integration Brief | Dennis Watson 🌟 Building Sustainable CHW Integration: Lessons from Cook County Health's CCH-CCR Initiative 🌟 We are excited to share insights from our latest evaluation of the Cook County Health-Community Healt...

We completed an evaluation of the Cook County Health-Community Health Workers for COVID Response and Resilient Communities (CCH-CCR) Initiative! Funded by the CDC and led by the Cook County Department of Public Health. This brief focuses on #CHW integration.

www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

🚨 New CBPR Toolkit chapters out now! Created by Lighthouse Institute to support research partnerships with people with lived recovery experience. Free & practical for substance use researchers. More to come—check it out 👉 www.jeapinitiative.org/resources-cb... #CBPR #HarmReduction #Recovery #HEAL

U.S. maternal mortality rate increased 27% over five years, NIH study finds — STAT A new U.S. government paper documenting an increase in maternal mortality from 2018 to 2022 does not hedge in its conclusion, calling the issue “an urgent public health priority.” That it was publishe...

The U.S. maternal mortality crisis is already among the worst in the developed world.
Now HHS has fired the very people working to fix it.
This will exacerbate inequities and cost lives.
We need to be investing more—not cutting.
apple.news/ABTwn1M34QcO...

Frontiers | Workforce outcomes among substance use peer supports: a scoping review of individual and organizational influences

Our latest article led by Dr. Bell, "Workforce Outcomes Among Substance Use Peer Supports: A Scoping Review of Individual and Organizational Influences," is now published in Frontiers in Public Health! 🎉

www.frontiersin.org/journals/pub...

#recovery #peers #substanceuse #burnout #workforce

important point overall, but this has an erroneous citation or a math problem: it claims 50% get evidence-based treatment, the citation says 25%.

Excited to share JSAT special issue on Legislative-Driven Responses to the Opioid Crisis, co-edited with Dr. Basia Andraka-Christou.

It examines how laws like CARA & the 21st Century Cures Act shaped OUD care. Grateful to all who made it happen! #AddictionResearch #HarmReduction

Don't cut NPR and PBS funding!  Millions of Americans rely on public media  for their news and educational programming. In many rural areas in our country, public broadcasting is their main avenue for receiving news, emer...

This cause is close to my heart - please sign: sign.moveon.org/petitions/do...

🚨 Research Drop! 🚨 Our study in Substance Use: Research and Treatment shows how question wording can lead to underreported fentanyl use. Better surveys = better data! Read it open access: doi.org/10.1177/2976...

#HarmReduction #Fentanyl #AddictionResearch #PublicHealth

so, i guess we don't wanna cure cancer or heart disease or any other condition or end the overdose crisis.. or we just don't care about stopping experiments mid-way and basically throwing away millions of dollars???????

CNN has now confirmed this.

www.cnn.com/2025/01/24/h...

Advancing peer support workforce research: Insights and recommendations through the lens of professionalization Over the past two decades, peer support providers have increasingly formalized their roles in the addiction treatment workforce through credentialing and professionalization efforts. Despite these advancements, misconceptions regarding their professional identity persist and contribute to challenges such as burnout and high turnover. This commentary underscores the importance of viewing the peer workforce as an emerging profession using a lens that has previously been applied to other healthcare service roles.

Excited to share our new commentary, "Advancing Peer Support Workforce Research: Insights and Recommendations Through the Lens of Professionalization," led by Dr. Justin Bell!
www.jsatjournal.com/article/S294...

#PeerSupport #BehavioralHealth