Health

The Partnerships for Success Project is a five-year project intended to prevent and reduce non-medical use of prescription opioids, as well as use of heroin, among Alaskans ages 12 to 25. The state’s Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) is carrying out the project, working with community coalitions that develop local prevention strategies.

DHSS contracted with ISER’s Center for Behavioral Health Research and Services to evaluate the project. Bridget Hanson, the evaluation director, and Jodi Barnett, the lead project evaluator, talk about their work so far, to establish a baseline for measuring the project’s success over time.

The Center for Behavioral Health Research and Services at ISER and the Alaska Department of Corrections will hold workshops December 6, 7, and 8, with presentations on treatment and therapeutic interventions for sex offenders with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities. The workshops will be held in Room 106 at UAA's Gorsuch Commons, and will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. all three days. The last day for registration is December 4. For more information on the workshops and registration costs, go to http://www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu/cbhrs/home/training.php.

Debra Schilling Wolfe is the executive director of the Field Center for Children's Policy, Practice, and Research at the University of Pennsylvania. In a lecture at UAA's Rasmuson Hall, she will talk about the role of research in child protection. ISER is sponsoring the talk, which is free and open to the public.

At the Field Center, Ms. Wolfe directs a team of child welfare experts, and she has more than 30 years of experience in directing child-welfare programs and initiatives around the country. Ms. Wolfe will be in Anchorage to deliver the keynote address at the National Citizen Review Panel Conference, which will be from May 10-12 at UAA. She will make this public talk before the conference. Please join us.

When: Tuesday, May 9, 7 p.m. (Reception 6:30 p.m.)
Where: UAA Rasmuson Hall, Room 101

Note: This will not be live streamed.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been at the top of the news lately, with Congress considering but then dropping proposed changes. Congress will try again to change the ACA—but it’s uncertain how or when. A new overview by Linda Leask, Rosyland Frazier, and Jessica Passini of ISER brings together information from many sources to describe health-care coverage Alaskans have now, and how ACA provisions have changed that coverage.

The Harold E. Pomeroy Public Policy Endowment supported their research. Download the summary, How Do Alaskans Cover Their Medical Bills? (PDF, 663.8KB)

If you have questions, call Linda Leask, ISER's editor, at 907-786-5425.