Rural Communities Opioid Response (Planning)

Kentucky is at the epicenter of the most pressing public health crisis facing the United States today: opioid use disorder (OUD), overdose, and death. People living in the Appalachian Region are 55% more likely to die from a drug overdose than people in the rest of the U.S. This treatable disease, along with secondary complications such as Hepatitis C and HIV, is destroying lives and our rural communities. In response to this crisis Appalachian rural communities and agencies will come together to identify solutions to this overwhelming epidemic of substance misuse and overdose deaths in the proposed eight county area. Building on an already established health focused network of community partners in the target service area, additional members will be identified and engaged to strengthen the capacity of this multi-sector consortium in developing plans to implement opioid use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery designed to reduce opioid overdoses among rural populations. A primary objective of this Kentucky River Health Consortium is for community partners to develop the tools, skills and strategies to aggressively reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with OUD in the identified high risk counties within the target service area. Individual consortium member’s expertise in data collection and analysis will be utilized to complete an analysis of the proposed target area, identify current opportunities and gaps in OUD prevention, treatment and/or recovery services and barriers to care: workforce plan to train and retain new and existing providers, sustainability and growth of the Consortium. The information gained will be utilized by the Consortium to lay out strategic plan aims relevant to the target area specifically addressing identified gaps, barriers in services and access to care. Using already established toolkits the Consortium will identify resources to distribute these resources in the target area showing the magnitude of the opioid crisis and provide educational opportunities on identifying and helping prevent opioid overdoses. Engaging community members, especially those impacted by the OUD, in the process will be vital. As such Consortium members will be active in local community events and will ensure that community members have a voice in development and implementation of the strategic plan. Additionally the thoughts of our healthcare providers will be factored into the strategic plan. Ultimately it will take the efforts of multiple community members at various levels to assist in managing the opioid epidemic. The Consortium will help establish the foundation for the rural target area by identifying the tools, skills and strategies for decreasing overdoses and deaths related to opioid misuse.