UNCG Center for Housing and Community Studies recently hosted a two-day training (see Training Program here) on how to use data to inform local coalitions regarding behavioral health disparities in the prevention of opiate prescription misuse. This came as part of our technical assistance to 13 rural counties in NC struggling with the opioid epidemic.
The goal of the training was to provide a set of information gathering and prevention strategy development tools that participants could take back and use in their communities to reduce disparities in prescription medication misuse and its consequences.
Participants developed an explanatory narrative about the issues of prescription misuse in their community – one that identifies likely causal factors for its increase, conditions that contribute to its sustainability, and the population groups most vulnerable to engaging in drug misuse.
The training also introduce participants to examining relationships among factors as increasing or decreasing the likelihood of prescription drug misuse, and as means of representing where the misuse is occurring (via Geographical Information System mapping).