State policymakers and other decision makers often struggle to make sense of an overwhelming amount of data about approaches to opioid misuse prevention and treatment. As states await the settlement of pending lawsuits against opioid pharmaceutical companies and distributors, an understanding of the evidence becomes even more critical.
In a new Milbank blog post, Allison Leof, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Evidence-based Policy at Oregon Health & Science University, discusses the recent launch of the CLOUD, or the Curated Library about Opioid Use for Decision-makers. The CLOUD offers a centralized place for actionable, evidence-based resources for anyone working on issues related to the opioid crisis, including addiction treatment, harm reduction, prevention, and recovery, and alternative treatments for pain. The materials include downloadable documents, such as policy reports, implementation guides, and government documents such as relevant legislation, as well infographics, videos, and website links. Where possible, resources include a ranking of the strength of the evidence for a particular strategy, clinical intervention, or community initiative’s effectiveness at addressing a challenge related to the opioid crisis. The supporting evidence is ranked on a four-point scale from “proven” to “problematic” to show whether a particular strategy, clinical intervention, or community initiative is successful.
View the resource library. CLOUD partners include the National Governors Association’s Center for Best Practices and the Milbank Memorial Fund.