ES 8. Assure a Competent Public and Personal Health Care Workforce

Core Function: Assurance

Below are some resources for fostering a high-quality public health and prevention workforce.

Training Opportunities for the Public Health Community

• Naloxone + Opioid Response App (NORA) is a free, interactive educational tool developed by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) that aims to expand the understanding of what naloxone is and reinforce initial training given when a person fills their prescription for it. Updates will be ongoing with input from users of the app, with the intent that local coalitions and support staff at hospitals will share the app with family, friends and persons at risk of overdose. https://egov.ct.gov/norasaves/#/HomePage  
• Prevention Training and Technical Assistance Service Center is a free resource supported by the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) that supports workforce development of local prevention coalitions. Users can set up a free account to access a variety of educational resources, including hybrid trainings for professionals, coalitions and community members and explainer videos for the public. In addition, free, in-person  trainings are offered by the Center as well as technical assistance support. https://preventiontrainingcenter.org/    
• CT TRAIN is the public health community’s learning management system. It contains many trainings for the public health community on opioids, including on-demand programs specifically designed for our state. To find opioid-specific programming, use the search word, “opioid”. To find Connecticut-specific programming, filter search results by affiliate, “Connecticut.” www.ct.train.org 
• Data Academy at the CT Data Collaborative hosts live, low cost trainings on a variety of data-related topics to increase data literacy and build capacity. Trainings are targeted at state and local governments and non-profit groups. http://ctdata.org/academy/ 
• Mid-Atlantic Regional Public Health Training Center maintains an extensive list of accessible opioid training resources for public health and other disciplines. https://lms.marphtc.pitt.edu/mod/page/view.php?id=237
• Public Health Foundation offers information on a variety of training, planning and response resources related to the opioid crisis, including a planning guide and a model for community conversations. http://www.phf.org/programs/driverdiagram/Pages/Opioid_Crisis.aspx
• NaRCAD is a program that provides technical assistance and a capacity-building resource center for health educators to support educational outreach to clinicians. NaRCAD offers sharable resources on many health topics that can be used to build an academic detailing program, including opioid safety and stewardship. https://www.narcad.org/opioid-safety-toolkit.html
• Region IV Public Health Training Center hosts a list of training programs and resources related to the opioid epidemic for public health professionals. https://www.r4phtc.org/the-opioid-epidemic-trainings-and-other-resources-for-public-health-professionals/
• Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) hosts information on a health education approach to the opioid epidemic. SOPHE offers resources including a fact sheet, policy brief, bibliography and a downloadable, customizable curriculum for public health professionals called POPPED – Prescription Opioid Prevention Through Pre-Professional Education & Discussion. https://www.sophe.org/focus-areas/opioid-awareness/  
• Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addictions (IRETA) is a public health non-profit organization located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that provides training and other resources for responding effectively to substance use and related problems. https://ireta.org/
• Education Development Center provides trainings and resources on evidence-based strategies to build the capacity of prevention professionals and communities to address opioid and other substance misuse, with an emphasis on sustaining effective, data-driven approaches for individuals and communities. https://www.edc.org/body-work/opioid-and-other-substance-misuse-prevention#overview_link  
• New England Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine connects public health workers with scientific information on health and supports a community of interest on substance abuse disorders. For an extensive resource list they have compiled of webinars, websites, presentations, documents and training materials for a variety of audiences, including the general public, click here for downloadable PDF file.

Training Opportunities for the Medical Community

• University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy hosts a “State of Connecticut Naloxone Training Program.” In this knowledge-based, continuing pharmacy education activity, the use of naloxone in the prevention of death from opiate overdose is discussed, as well as Connecticut regulations for pharmacist prescribing and dispensing of naloxone.  https://ce.pharmacy.uconn.edu/ct-naloxone/
• SCOPE (Safe and Competent Opioid Prescribing Education) of Pain offers a series of continuing education programs for clinicians on safely and effectively managing patients’ chronic pain through opioids. Online training, a Trainer’s Toolkit, and other resources are available through the Boston University School of Medicine. https://www.scopeofpain.org/ 
• Pathways to Safer Opioid Use, developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, is an interactive training that promotes the appropriate, safe, and effective use of opioids to manage chronic pain. It is based on the opioid-related recommendations in the National Action Plan for Adverse Drug Event Prevention (ADE Action Plan). https://health.gov/hcq/training-pathways.asp
• Applying Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids: An interactive, online training series that aims to help healthcare providers apply the CDC’s recommendations in clinical settings through patient scenarios, videos, knowledge checks, tips, and resources. Providers can gain a better understanding of the recommendations, the risks and benefits of prescription opioids, non-opioid treatment options, patient communication, and risk mitigation. Each stand-alone module is self-paced and offers free continuing education credit. www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/training/online-training.html 
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) supports continuing medical education (CME) courses to help physicians qualify to prescribe buprenorphine in an office setting. Courses may require registration and include fees. https://www.samhsa.gov/medication-assisted-treatment/training-materials-resources/buprenorphine-physician-training
• SAMSHA’s Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) website provides information on regulations and training for healthcare practitioners, pharmacists and others. Medicated-Assisted Treatment (MAT) is the use of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medications, in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies, to provide a “whole-patient” approach to the treatment of substance use disorders. https://www.samhsa.gov/medication-assisted-treatment/training-resources/opioid-courses
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Opioid Safety Initiative (OSI) webpage provides practice guidelines and tools that can aid in clinical decisions about starting, continuing, or tapering opioid therapy, and other challenges related to safe opioid prescribing. https://www.va.gov/PAINMANAGEMENT/Opioid_Safety_Initiative_OSI.asp
• Prescribe to Prevent provides information on prescribing and dispensing naloxone, including resources for prescribers, pharmacists, public health workers, and researchers. www.prescribetoprevent.org

CT Training Videos 

• This 11-minute Naloxone training video “Using Naloxone to Reverse an Opioid Overdose” created by DHMAS teaches you how to identify an opioid overdose, how to intervene, and how to use the various formulations of naloxone, such as Narcan, to reverse an opioid overdose. To access the downloadable video, follow the link http://www.ctvideo.ct.gov/dmhas/NaloxoneTraining.wmv