Aced It
The Aced It podcast is the place to go if you‘re trying to find out what‘s new in the health and justice research world, but don‘t have the time, energy, or know-how to decipher all that academic writing. Dr. Danielle Rudes and Shannon Magnuson from the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!) at George Mason University developed the Aced It! podcast to bring relevant research articles to a broader audience by putting them into layperson’s terms sharing the findings and implications in about 15 minutes.
Episodes
Tuesday Nov 14, 2023
Women, Incarceration, & Substance Use Disorder
Tuesday Nov 14, 2023
Tuesday Nov 14, 2023
Season 5, Episode 1: In this episode, Dr. Michele Staton (University of Kentucky) walks listeners through her work studying women and community reentry after prison release. She gracefully details the intensive and complex process she uses to understand women’s specific needs related to medications for substance use disorder (SUD).
Download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Feb 14, 2023
Peer Recovery Support Services
Tuesday Feb 14, 2023
Tuesday Feb 14, 2023
Season 4, Episode 10: Walking a mile in another’s shoes is often a great way to empathize and support someone going through a tough time. However, not all shoes are the same and the miles we walk vary significantly. While peer recovery support is both popular and highly regarded, scholars actually know very little about the process of training, credentialing, and monitoring these relationships. Let’s see what we know and begin to ask more questions to improve upon this common model of support.
Download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Feb 07, 2023
Project ECHO for Helping Medical Professional Learn About MOUD
Tuesday Feb 07, 2023
Tuesday Feb 07, 2023
Season 4, Episode 9: Wow! This episode provides a fascinating look at how detailed and in-depth training can help doctors (who often do not receive training around medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in medical school) can learn more about MOUD to improve their assessment and delivery of the medications to those who desperately need the medications.
Download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Jan 31, 2023
MOUD Diversion
Tuesday Jan 31, 2023
Tuesday Jan 31, 2023
Season 4, Episode 8: When patients receiving medicine for the treatment of opioid use disorder (MOUD) share, sell, or hoard their medications (commonly called diversion) it creates a host of new challenges for corrections agencies and entire communities. This episode discusses one study that worked to decrease (and even stop) diversion. It’s amazing what a little planning, communication, and attention to the finer details can accomplish!
Download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Jan 24, 2023
Assessing and Diagnosing SUD More Efficiently
Tuesday Jan 24, 2023
Tuesday Jan 24, 2023
Season 4, Episode 7: Most prisons and jails use a clinical process to assess individuals for substance use disorder (SUD) and a host of other concerns, but the process is often lengthy and cumbersome. Several scholars took this problem as a challenge and developed improved instruments for assessment that streamline the process and provide diagnoses more quickly so carceral staff can get right to designing a case plan and beginning treatment. A win-win!
Download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
Attitudinal and Systemic Barriers to Medicaid Access
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
Season 4, Episode 6: It seems logical that individual with medical insurance tend to receive more and better healthcare. Medicaid is one program to improve access to insurance (to improve health outcomes), but some states make accessing Medicaid more difficult and the results are often tragic.
Download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Jan 10, 2023
Factors Influencing OUD Responses
Tuesday Jan 10, 2023
Tuesday Jan 10, 2023
Season 4, Episode 5: In this episode, we discuss the intensely complex nature of public opinion regarding opioid use disorder (OUD). We highlight a critical study of racial attitudes, political affiliation, and other factors influence on beliefs regarding punishment or medical-responses to OUD. An absolute must-listen!
Download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Jan 03, 2023
Post-Release OUD Overdose Death
Tuesday Jan 03, 2023
Tuesday Jan 03, 2023
Season 4, Episode 4: Did you know that the two weeks following carceral release carries the highest risk for overdose death? In this episode, we review several studies that examine opioid use disorder (OUD) and overdose death post-incarceration. We hit on key topics such as Narcan (naloxone), fentanyl, and Naltrexone and consider appropriate interventions to prevent overdose in both institutional and community settings.
Download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Dec 27, 2022
Telehealth and MOUD
Tuesday Dec 27, 2022
Tuesday Dec 27, 2022
Season 4, Episode 3: In this episode we provide an overview of three studies that all examined the use of tele-technology and the delivery of counseling and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). The studies offer amazing insight from both patients and counselors about the benefits and barriers of telehealth and MOUD and should get you thinking deeply about this timely and important issue.
Download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Incarcerated Individuals’ Preferences for MAT
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Season 4, Episode 2: It turns out that, no surprise here, individuals who are incarcerated DO have a preference regarding which medication they prefer to assist them with their opioid use disorder, and their reasons are fascinating and insightful. In this episode, we review the idea of patient preference for medication and begin to link those preferences to better treatment outcomes.
Download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
About Aced It
Dr. Danielle Rudes and Shannon Magnuson from the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!) at George Mason University developed the Aced It podcast series to bring relevant research articles to a broader audience by putting them into layperson’s terms sharing the findings and implications in about 15 minutes.
The Aced It podcast is the place to go if you're trying to find out what's new in the health and justice research world, but don't have the time, energy, or know-how to decipher all that academic writing.
Shout Outs!
Aced It also graciously thanks Heather Toronjo and Arden Richards-Karamarkovich for their fabulous research and scripting and for the one-pagers that accompany each episode. And, thank you to the countless students who contributed ideas and episode scripts. We also thank Tisha Wiley, Lori Ducharme, and Julia Zur at NIDA for their ever-thoughtful support and guidance and Faye Taxman at ACE! for her career-long devotion to inspiring change and improvement to criminal legal organizations and all those who work with or are served by them. Finally, a ruckus thank you to Shannon Magnuson (GMU and Justice Systems Partners) for her part in inspiring the creation of this podcast.
Meet the Host
Danielle S. Rudes, Ph.D. is a Professor of Criminal Justice & Criminology at Sam Houston State University and the Deputy Director of the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!) at George Mason University. She received her B.A. in mass communication (broadcasting) from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, her M.A. in Communications from the University of New Orleans, and an M.A. and PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Rudes is an expert qualitative researcher whose methods include ethnographic observation, interviews, and focus groups with over 20 years of experience working with corrections agencies at the federal, state and local county levels including prisons, jails, probation/parole agencies, and problem-solving courts. She is recognized for her work examining how social control organizations and their middle management and street-level workers understand, negotiate, and at times, resist change.
Dr. Rudes’ experience includes working with corrections agencies during adoption, adaptation, and implementation of various workplace reforms. She also works with institutional corrections (both general population and solitary confinement) to examine key areas of living and working in these carceral spaces including decision making, perceptions of risk/punishment, and negotiating change/reform.
Dr. Rudes received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Justice. She also serves on the Editorial Board of the journals Criminal Justice & Behavior, Victims & Offenders and the journal Law & Policy and is an Associate Editor at the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. Dr. Rudes received the American Society of Criminology’s Teaching Award in 2018, the Mentoring Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in 2021, and several George Mason University awards including Teaching Excellence, Mentoring Excellence, and the Emerging Researcher, Scholar, Creator Award.
Dr. Rudes works closely with her team at ACE! to develop each podcast episode and records all episodes from her home studio.