Is Counseling Integral to Buprenorphine-Assisted Opioid Addiction Treatment? Examining Counseling Participation and Treatment Retention at a Richmond, Virginia Clinic

Treatment providers in Virginia are required by law to offer counseling or referrals to all clients receiving medication-assisted opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment (American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2016; Medical Society of Virginia, 2018). Prescribing physicians widely regard counseling as a critical component of medication-assisted OUD treatment (Lin, Lofwall, Walsh, & Knudsen, 2019), and clients perceive counseling to be among the most important factors promoting recovery from opioid dependence (Hay, Huhn, Tompkins, & Dunn, 2019). Research investigating the efficacy of counseling as an OUD treatment component, however, has been equivocal to date (Brown, 2018; Dugosh et al., 2016). The current study explored associations between counseling type, counseling attendance rates, and treatment duration among a convenience sample of 71 clients receiving buprenorphine-assisted OUD treatment at a Richmond, Virginia outpatient clinic. Among early phase clients (in treatment for 1 to 11 months) only, counseling type was significantly associated with treatment length (p = .019). Among all clients, counseling attendance rate was significantly associated with treatment length (p = .006). Findings suggest that treatment phase moderates the effects of counseling on retention. While this study corroborates previous research linking counseling to positive OUD treatment outcomes for some clients (Dugosh et al., 2016), results emphasize the need for individualized, client-centered treatment planning with ongoing adjustment according to evolving client needs and treatment goals

Evaluation of Disability Employment Policy Demonstration Programs

[Excerpt] Having characterized the intermediary approach from published literature, as well as impressions of those who are using this approach in their demonstration projects, and reviewed ODEP’s requirements regarding implementation of the intermediary approach, Westat determined that the intermediary approaches required in the SGAs for the State Intermediary and Faith-based Mentoring demonstration programs have much in common with other ODEP demonstration programs. Other ODEP programs require demonstration projects to partner and collaborate with businesses and business organizations, government, transportation systems, and health and other service providers. They also have goals for ensuring quality and impact and promoting policies to sustain effective practices. The difference, however, is that the State Intermediary and Faith-based mentoring SGAs specifically identified the intermediary approach as the strategy to use. The State Intermediary SGA went even further by delineating specific steps as part of the intermediary process (resource mapping and development of a state plan). Our literature review uncovered a wide variety of examples in which the intermediary approach has achieved useful outcomes on behalf of youth with disabilities. However, all literature we found was descriptive and did not address questions on effectiveness or the most appropriate strategies. Therefore, it is not known whether the intermediary approach is the most fruitful approach for achieving systems change, whether there are some intermediary approaches that are better than others, or whether those approaches would be repeatable and adaptable to other environments. Nevertheless, at our three site visits, we were able to uncover a variety of examples of activities that are consistent with intermediary strategic and operational functions identified in the literature and appear to bode well for success in achieving systems change. Further review of Quarterly Reports and findings from site visits also revealed some systems change already taking place in the systems change focus areas of capacity-building, coordination, consumer choice and employer support, and evaluation of new practices. Subsequent site visits in Phase IV of the independent evaluation are likely to uncover additional examples of intermediary processes, outputs, and outcomes, as well as those practices that appear to be most successful in achieving systems change

Role of Intermediaries in ODEP Youth Demonstration Programs

[Excerpt] All Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) demonstration programs use aspects of an intermediary approach to connect organizations and agencies at all levels in meeting educational and employment goals on behalf of people with disabilities. As part of Phase III of the independent evaluation of ODEP demonstration programs, ODEP asked Westat to conduct an in-depth analysis of the role of intermediaries in building sustained capacity and integration of services of the workforce development system to better serve youth with disabilities. The overriding question in the context of this issue analysis is whether, to what extent, and how the intermediary approach is being used in youth demonstration programs and whether it is effective in creating systems change to better serve youth with disabilities. The following questions were addressed: - What characterizes the intermediary approach? - What are ODEP’s requirements with regard to the use of an intermediary approach by demonstration programs? - What are demonstration project sites’ experiences in using an intermediary approach? &#; What can be said to date on the effectiveness of using an intermediary approach, particularly with regard to systems change

Petrogenetic processes in the ultramafic, alkaline and carbonatitic magmatism in the Kola Alkaline Province: a review

Igneous rocks of the Devonian Kola Alkaline Carbonatite Province (KACP) in NW Russia and eastern Finland can be classified into four groups: (a) primitive mantle-derived silica-undersaturated silicate magmas; (b) evolved alkaline and nepheline syenites; (c) cumulate rocks; (d) carbonatites and phoscorites, some of which may also be cumulates. There is no obvious age difference between these various groups, so all of the magma-types were formed at the same time in a relatively restricted area and must therefore be petrogenetically related. Both sodic and potassic varieties of primitive silicate magmas are present. On major element variation diagrams, the cumulate rocks plot as simple mixtures of their constituent minerals (olivine, clinopyroxene, calcite etc). There are complete compositional trends between carbonatites, phoscorites and silicate cumulates, which suggests that many carbonatites and phoscorites are also cumulates. CaO/Al2O3 ratios for ultramafic and mafic silicate rocks in dykes and pipes range up to 5, indicating a very small degree of melting of a carbonated mantle at depth. Damkjernites appear to be transitional to carbonatites. Trace element modelling indicates that all the mafic silicate magmas are related to small degrees of melting of a metasomatised garnet peridotite source. Similarities of the REE patterns and initial Sr and Nd isotope compositions for ultramafic alkaline silicate rocks and carbonatites indicate that there is a strong relationship between the two magma-types. There is also a strong petrogenetic link between carbonatites, kimberlites and alkaline ultramafic lamprophyres. Fractional crystallisation of olivine, diopside, melilite and nepheline gave rise to the evolved nepheline syenites, and formed the ultramafic cumulates. All magmas in the KACP appear to have originated in a single event, possibly triggered by the arrival of hot material (mantle plume?) beneath the Archaean/Proterozoic lithosphere of the northern Baltic Shield that had been recently metasomatised. Melting of the carbonated garnet peridotite mantle formed a spectrum of magmas including carbonatite, damkjernite, melilitite, melanephelinite and ultramafic lamprophyre. Pockets of phlogopite metasomatised lithospheric mantle also melted to form potassic magmas including kimberlite. Depth of melting, degree of melting and presence of metasomatic phases are probably the major factors controlling the precise composition of the primary melts formed

Green is Gold Newsletter: Summer 2011

This year has been an exciting one; from LEED Gold, to the STARS survey to the new Green House Living Learning Communities, this community has been busy! This newsletter highlights several of these initiatives.https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/sustain_news/1001/thumbnail.jp

Emotion Socialization and Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Role of Disability Severity and Parental Attributions in Predicting Parents\u27 Emotional Responses

The importance of parents in emotion socialization is highly established among children who are typically developing (Sheffield Morris, Silk, Steinberg, Myers, & Robinson, 2007). Child characteristics, such as child temperament and emotional reactivity, have been found to influence parenting (Bell & Chapman, 1986; Belsky, 1984). However, little is known about the emotion socialization practices of parents of children with special needs and how disability severity may influence these practices. Participants included 68 parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (ages 3-11). Parents reported on three dimensions, using three questionnaires: disability severity via the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, 2nd edition (Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Balla, 2005); emotion socialization practices via the Coping with Children\u27s Negative Emotions Scale (Fabes, Eisenberg, & Bernzweig, 1990); parents\u27 attributions for children\u27s emotional expressions using the Parents\u27 Attributions for Children\u27s Behavior Questionnaire. Using regression, the relationship between autism severity, parents\u27 attributions for children\u27s emotional expressions, and parents\u27 emotion socialization practices was examined. Findings suggest that severity of ASD does not appear to influence parents\u27 use of supportive emotion socialization practices. However, autism severity does influence parents\u27 attributions for children\u27s emotional expressions, with lower autism severity increasing parents\u27 views of their children\u27s negative emotionality as unstable and modifiable. The results of this study have implications for parenting children with ASD, early intervention, and future research in this area

Green is Gold Newsletter: Fall 2010

The Sustainability Taskforce is an interdisciplinary committee that allows for information sharing and brainstorming of sustainable practices on campus. As such, many programs have been executed over the past year through the col-laborative efforts of the Taskforce. The Taskforce is committed to being proac-tive and to creating a culture of awareness on environmental issues in an effort to reduce cost and impact. The College at Brockport, State University of New York is being progressive in their programs regarding sustainability on campus. For more information on our programs or to view task-force meeting minutes and annual reports, go to www.brockport.edu/gci.https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/sustain_news/1000/thumbnail.jp

Understanding How Agricultural Intensification Impacts Ring-Necked Pheasant Distribution and Survival in Eastern South Dakota

Historically, pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) have thrived in South Dakota in conjunction with successful land retirement programs or early farming practices through the 1950s, which created interspersions of agriculture and native landscapes that were ideal for pheasants. Recently, the Prairie Pothole ecosystem has undergone rapid agroeconomic expansion, effectively reducing ideal interspersions of native prairie and cropland into agriculturally homogeneous landscapes. Indices of pheasant abundance have suggested persistent population declines since 2008, raising concerns regarding landscape suitability. Our goal was to understand how agriculture intensification impacts pheasant ecology. The objectives were to: 1) estimate overwinter hen probability of survival, resource selection, and mortality risks associated with landscape features; 2) determine pheasant abundance as a function of remotely derived landscape composition and vegetative phenology; and 3) implement low-cost Arduino GPS trackers into our ring-necked pheasant study to improve fine-scale data collection. To accomplish these goals, we captured, collared, and tracked 100 female pheasants annually from December through March in each of three years (2016–2019). Overall, we captured 321 females and recorded 110 mortalities. We implemented low-cost GPS trackers on 35 individuals, resulting in 407 VHF locations and 1,574 GPS locations. This was a 287% increase in data density at only 23% increase in cost. We modeled weekly probability of survival and Cox proportional-hazard cause-specific mortality rates associated with landscape features. To understand pheasant distribution, we surveyed for and modeled pheasant abundance and distribution seasonally as a function of landscape composition and intraannual differences in vegetation phenology. Overwinter survival of pheasants (0.66) was highly influenced by snow depth. Pheasants using harvested fields experienced a 421% increase in risk of raptor predation. Additionally, pheasants using emergent wetlands experienced a 58% lower risk of weather mortality. Our distribution model demonstrated that proportion of Conservation Reserve Program grasslands, dormant wetlands, and 30- 40% row-crop agriculture within 1.6 km2 positively influenced pheasant abundance. Alternatively, pheasants were negatively associated with proportion of forests. Agricultural intensification is projected to continue reducing valuable concealment, grassland, and emergent wetland landscapes. As native perennial vegetation is critical to both pheasant abundance and winter survival, large-scale conservation efforts are critical to pheasant population viability. Innovative conservation solutions supplementing current farm bill policies may improve conservation adoption thereby improving pheasant abundance and overwinter survival