Experts speaking Thursday in Chicago at the Summit For Clinical Excellence, The Opioid Crisis: Strategies for Treatment and Recovery covered a number of treatment modalities that clinicians might not be embracing just yet. Some strategies are proven with fairly recent science, but others are a bit far afield with promise for the future.

Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar, MD, the medical director of behavioral health for the Chicago Department of Public Health, discussed medication assisted treatment (MAT) and the evidence supporting it. MAT helps those with opioid use disorder to reduce their rollercoaster patterns of highs and lows and move forward on what she calls a “smooth road.”

While many people might ultimately recover without treatment, Salisbury-Afshar noted that a practical goal of treatment is to shorten the time it takes someone to get into recovery. In that regard, MAT can be an asset and save lives, in spite of the ongoing resistance from various stakeholders who don’t advocate for its use.  Read more.