Tag: opioids

Prince William Health District Shares Findings of Opioid Needs Assessment

August 12, 2024
Media Contact: Brookie Crawford, brookie.crawford@vdh.virginia.gov

Prince William Health District Shares Findings of Opioid Needs Assessment
Reveal Targeted Interventions, Strategies to Address Opioid Crisis

 MANASSAS, Va. – The Prince William Health District (PWHD) shares results of a 10-month community-based needs assessment to evaluate factors that contribute to opioid-use disorder (OUD). This assessment identifies gaps in services and informs future development of targeted interventions and strategies to address the opioid crisis effectively.

As part of the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) Community Engagement grant, this comprehensive assessment gathered information from September 2023 to June 2024 about the specific needs, challenges, and resources related to opioid use and addiction within the community. Input was gathered from various populations, to include the Latino community, adolescents, individuals in active drug use, and those in recovery, through interviews and listening sessions.

“By working across systems of care to understand the burden of addiction in our communities, we can begin to address disparities surrounding opioid use disorder in the Greater Prince William region,” said Acting Prince William Health District Director Olugbenga Obasanjo, MD.

In the Greater Prince William Region, there were 454 OUD deaths from 2018 to 2023. Nonfatal opioid-related overdoses have more than doubled since 2017. Overdoses are increasing among the 20-24 age group, adolescent females, and Black and Latino adults.

From the listening sessions, PWHD learned that the top three needs are to:

  1. Address stigma at all levels as it inhibits access to care, communication with potential resources, and services received.
  2. Establish peer recovery specialist services to bolster knowledge of and access to current systems.
  3. Recognize the need for a multifaceted, cross-systems approach to address commonly co-occurring disorders with the connection between OUD and mental health hurdles.

PWHD will be engaging communities on specific opioid prevention using an action plan in Year 2 and 3 of the grant. This action plan is based on gap(s) identified in the needs assessment and includes the following action items:

  • Build Understanding: Educate the public about opioids and their impact to help everyone see addiction as a health issue, not a moral one.
  • Help Everyone Get Help: Explore how to ensure everyone has equitable access to care, no matter who they are or where they live.
  • Improve Communication: Find ways to improve cross-sector communication to break down barriers that make it harder for people to get the help they need.
  • Work Together: Train across different systems to work better together and refer people more effectively
  • Keep Checking In: Monitor the data to see what’s working, what’s not, and find new ways to help as the issues shift.

The public can access the complete findings from the assessment, here.

If you have any questions regarding opioid use in our community or would like to discuss partnerships to strengthen our response to the addiction crisis, please contact Hope, Community Engagement Specialist at Kirstin.Sievers@vdh.virginia.gov.

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Southside Health District Offers Revive! Training in South Boston

August 8, 2024
Media Contact: Brookie Crawford, brookie.crawford@vdh.virginia.gov

 Southside Health District Offers Revive! Training in South Boston

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. – Southside Health District, in conjunction with the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Services, Southside Behavioral Health, and Southside Medical Reserve Corps, will offer Revive! training Saturday, August 17 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the YMCA of South Boston, located at 650 Hamilton Blvd. in South Boston.

REVIVE! is Virginia’s statewide opioid overdose and naloxone education program. Since 2013, fatal drug overdose continues to be the leading method of unnatural death in Virginia.

Participants will learn to recognize the signs of an opioid overdose, respond to an opioid emergency, and effectively use Naloxone. Naloxone is now an over-the-counter medication that reverses an overdose that might otherwise be fatal.

To register, complete the online form or call (804) 914-2608. Space is limited, so register today. The training is open to all community members and there are no prerequisites to participate. Upon completion, each participant will receive two doses of Naloxone nasal spray. The training takes approximately 20-30 minutes.

An opioid overdose is a life-threatening medical emergency. If you think an overdose may be occurring, it is important to act quickly to save a life and call 911 immediately.

SSHD will also offer Revive! training Friday, September 20 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the YMCA of Clarksville, located at 260 Hillcrest Drive in Clarksville.

For more information or to schedule additional trainings, contact Amanda Hutchins at (804) 914-2608 or amanda.hutchins1@vdh.virginia.gov.

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Southside Health District Offers Revive! Training

June 6, 2024
Media Contact: Brookie Crawford, brookie.crawford@vdh.virginia.gov

Southside Health District Offers Revive! Training

CHASE CITY, Va. – Southside Health District will offer Revive! training Thursday, June 13 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Estes Community Center, located at 316 N. Main St., Chase City.

REVIVE! is Virginia’s statewide opioid overdose and naloxone education program. Since 2013, fatal drug overdose continues to be the leading method of unnatural death in Virginia.

Participants will learn to recognize the signs of an opioid overdose, respond to an opioid emergency, and effectively use Naloxone. Naloxone is now an over-the-counter medication that reverses an overdose that might otherwise be fatal.

To register, complete the online form or call (804) 914-2608. Space is limited, so register today. The training is open to all community members and there are no requirements to participate. Upon completion, each participant will receive two doses of Naloxone nasal spray. The training takes approximately 20-30 minutes.

An opioid overdose is a life-threatening medical emergency. If you think an overdose may be occurring, it is important to act quickly to save a life and call 911 immediately.

For more information or to schedule additional trainings, contact Amanda Hutchins at (804) 914-2608 or amanda.hutchins1@vdh.virginia.gov.

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Virginia Department of Health and Virginia Commonwealth University Partner to Launch an Opioid Cost Calculator

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — October 24, 2022
Media Contacts:
VDH: Brookie Crawford, brookie.crawford@vdh.virginia.gov
VCU: Sarah Blackburn, sarah.blackburn@vcuhealth.org

Virginia Department of Health and Virginia Commonwealth University Partner to Launch an Opioid Cost Calculator

RICHMOND, VA — The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Center on Society and Health collaborated on the development of an opioid cost calculator. The calculator presents cost estimates of how much the opioid epidemic impacts Virginians in multiple categories: lost labor, healthcare, crime, household costs, state costs, and federal costs.

The data from the calculator paints a more complete picture of the devastating impact of the opioid epidemic in Virginia.  It will also be useful in supporting ongoing efforts for prevention and reduction activities at the state and local levels, and in moving toward large-scale systemic change.

“Understanding the impact of opioid addiction is a crucial step,” said State Health Commissioner Colin M. Greene, MD, MPH. “With this understanding, we move closer to change that will help reduce and prevent opioid-related addiction, injury, and death.”

“The staggering costs associated with the opioid crisis in Virginia underscore the value of a comprehensive strategy that combines downstream interventions (e.g., emergency care for overdoses, addiction counseling) with upstream efforts (e.g., economic relief to distressed communities, stronger social services and support systems for those in need) to ease the conditions that fuel drug use,” said Interim Director of the VCU Center on Society and Health Derek Chapman, Ph.D.

In 2020, an average of more than four Virginians died of an opioid drug overdose every day.  The cost calculator shows us that the overall cost of the epidemic in 2020 was $3.5 billion.  The cost calculator not only shows the overall cost of the epidemic in Virginia in total dollars, but also broken down by sector (labor, health care, crime), payer (households, state/local government, federal government), and locality (counties and independent cities).

Additionally, this data is also available in easy-to-use data visualizations and downloadable reports and data tables.

This project was funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) initiative to prevent and reduce drug overdose deaths in Virginia through a series of surveillance and prevention strategies.

VDH remains committed to preventing injury, death, and infectious disease from drug overdose and substance use; and using data and public health surveillance to inform prevention and response efforts.

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