Abstract
Purpose: Rural communities in the United States face unique challenges related to the opioid epidemic. This paper explores the substances and substance-related health problems that pose the greatest concern to rural communities that received funding to address the opioid epidemic and examines their reported capacity to address these challenges. Methods: This paper analyzed data collected as part of quarterly progress reporting from multisector consortiums across 2 cohorts of grantees funded to reduce the morbidity and mortality of opioids. Consortium project directors ranked the top 3 issues in their community in each of the following categories: (1) drugs of concern; (2) drugs with the least capacity to address; (3) related problem areas of concern (eg, neonatal abstinence syndrome [NAS]); and (4) related problem areas with the least capacity to address. Findings: Methamphetamines, fentanyl, and alcohol were the substances rated as most problematic in rural communities funded to address the opioid epidemic across all reporting periods. Over 40% of respondents ranked methamphetamine as a top concern and the substance they had the least capacity to address. This was nearly double the percentage of the next highest-ranked substance (fentanyl). Overdoses, NAS, and viral hepatitis constituted the top-ranking related concerns, with limited capacity to address them. Conclusions: Multiple drug and concomitant problems coalesced on rural communities during the opioid epidemic. Funding communities to address substance use disorders and related problems of concern, rather than targeting funding toward a specific type of drug, may result in better health outcomes throughout the entire community.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 795-803 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Rural Health |
Volume | 39 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 1 2023 |
Keywords
- opioid use disorder
- overdose
- polysubstance use
- rural health
- substance use disorder
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health