American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare Fellow Harold Pollack weighs in on Illinois’ fentanyl test strip law, and Fellow Rona L. Levy tests a new protocol for families with chronic abdominal pain.

Fentanyl Test Strip Bill is Signed into Law in Illinois

August 15, 2024 – Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 3350 into law, which aims to expand access to fentanyl test strips. The law will allow overdose prevention providers funded through the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Drug Overdose Prevention Program to distribute test strips at places where people who use substances can more easily access them. Fellow and professor at the University of Chicago’s Crown School of Social Work, Harold Pollack, PhD, weighed in on the bill for the Chicago Tribune. "'I think many of the venues (this opens access to) aren’t the places where we might traditionally expect to see harm reduction offered,' he said. 'So I think that’s very valuable.'"

Read the full article in the Chicago Tribune.

New Trial Protocol for Children and Families with Chronic Abdominal Pain

August 19, 2024 – Chronic pain often clusters in families with parents and children experiencing similar symptoms. Young children of parents with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are at risk for abdominal pain, disability, and excess health care visits. Fellow, professor, and Director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Group at the University of Washington School of Social Work, Rona L. Levy, PhD, is the principal investigator of a new trial protocol that will work with families to test the effectiveness of online early preventive psychosocial interventions vs. online educational safety comparison conditions with parents with IBS, with the aim of improving child health.

Read the full protocol in the Trials Journal.