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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Opioid Stewardship in the Indian Health Service

IHS National Committee on Heroin Opioids and Pain Efforts

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Join our IHS National Committee on Heroin, Opioids, and Pain Efforts LISTSERV to receive news and updates.

The Indian Health Service (IHS) National Committee on Heroin Opioids and Pain Efforts (HOPE Committee) works to promote appropriate and effective pain management, reduce overdose deaths, and improve access to culturally appropriate treatment.

The committee aims to build collaborations to foster tribal relationships to advance a whole-person, whole-community response to pain management, substance use disorder, and overdose prevention. The workgroups aim to:

  • Strengthen local resource networks so that care reflects each community's own priorities and traditions
  • Support administrative infrastructure and improve care coordination for patients transitioning between emergency departments, inpatient treatment, and community-based recovery support services
  • Build clinical capacity and workforce readiness through technical assistance and identifying training and educational resources.
  • Advance comprehensive strategies through meaningful discussions and collaboration to ensure service expansion is paired with peer recovery support, culturally appropriate care, and warm handoff pathways from overdose reversal to sustained treatment.
  • Support pathways from crisis to long-term recovery through a "no wrong door" approach to recovery engagement, increasing support for managed withdrawal after an overdose reversal, and connecting patients with treatment and culturally grounded recovery support.

As part of IHS's commitment to a coordinated, holistic response to the overdose epidemic, the HOPE Committee launched quarterly newsletters to share important updates in the IHS response to the opioid and heroin epidemic. The goal of each newsletter is to briefly highlight resources and share additional information with our healthcare workforce and tribal stakeholders.