Kelly Scott was a natural choice to serve as advisor to The Empty Chair Project at Pikeville High School. The project, a mobile app and website that offers information and resources related to drug-addiction prevention, treatment and harm reduction, was created in 2017 by a team of students under Scott’s […]
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Understanding Appalachia requires coming to grips with the complexities and challenges of rural healthcare. It means understanding that addiction isn’t just an opioid issue, as methamphetamines make a comeback in our communities. It means understanding that health goals reflect a Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs chart from one community to the […]
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You probably wouldn’t suspect it, but journalist Sarah Smarsh’s dad’s favorite politician is Maxine Waters. Nick Smarsh is a fourth-generation wheat farmer and lifelong construction worker from rural Kansas, Waters a decidedly liberal congresswoman from southern California. Granted, Nick Smarsh isn’t likely among the majority of rural Americans in his […]
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More than four in 10 adults living in rural Appalachia cite drug abuse as the biggest issue facing their communities, according to “Life in Rural America: Part II,” a report released this week by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health from […]
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The Appalachian Regional Commission is shifting its focus toward recovery. The organization, led by the governors of the 13 Appalachian states and a federal co-chair appointed by the president, announced this week the creation of its Substance Abuse Advisory Council. The 24-member group consists of representatives from communities throughout the […]
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West Virginia has the highest per-capita drug-overdose death rate in the country. And while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a recent decline in overall drug overdose deaths nationwide, deaths involving fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, are on the rise. West Virginia leads the nation in that rate […]
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