Opioid use is a problem of current interest in Anytown, mainly due to a recently increased mortality rate because of unintentional overdose deaths. Although opioids are prescription painkillers, misusing them may lead to opioid use disorder (OUD), a severe illness associated with morbidity and mortality. Aside from that, the opioid crisis negatively affects the general cultural level because it severely slows the personal development of young people who are addicted. The economy suffers too, as addicted people do not perform effectively at work, leading to a productivity decrease followed by an economic collapse. The opioid crisis appears to be a nationwide problem in the United States, though Anytown experiences much heavier troubles since there is no intervention program for helping opioid addicts. Therefore, it is crucial to find resources and immediately implement such a program in Anytown, because otherwise, its citizens’ well-being might be in danger.
The recent observational studies can explain the need in the program mentioned above regarding the problem. For instance, Haffajee et al. (2019) report that most of the U. S. counties have high rates of opioid overdose deaths along with low availability of medications for opioid use disorder. The researchers applied spatial logistic regression models to measure the correlation between those two indicators (Haffajee et al., 2019). According to the results of their study, 46.4% of all the U. S. counties and 71.2% of the rural U. S. counties currently lack a publicly available provider of medications for opioid use disorder (Haffajee et al., 2019). Since Anytown is not an exception, these indicators excellently exemplify one of the main reasons the opioid crisis occurred: the absence of required medications, which leads to the inability to assist opioid-addicted people.
High mortality rates caused by opioid overdoses appear to be the most significant problem of the opioid crisis. Jiang et al. (2019) observed a sample of 2239 with opioid overdose diagnoses who visited the emergency department. According to the researchers’ findings, 137 (6.1%) of patients died within a year of the index visit; 81 (3.6%) of them died within the first six months, and 24 (1.1%) died within a month. The results of this study show the gravity of the opioid crisis and the possible dangers of ignoring the problem.
However, there are ways to contain the opioid crisis which are successfully applied in certain counties. The authors of the previously described study name the next specificities of the counties that are protective against high opioid risk:
- Primary care provider density;
- Greater traversability;
- A higher proportion of the population is under age 25 (Haffajee et al., 2019).
This study results can identify specific primary steps for introducing the proposed intervention program to Anytown. The indicator of primary care density, among other things, includes the mentioned above lack of unavailability of medications for opioid use disorder. In addition, there is a chance that Anytown’s medical practice might lack the confidence and qualification required for the proper treatment of opioid use disorder. These issues are to be solved before containing the opioid crisis in Anytown will have become possible. However, the program cannot achieve this goal without the help of external stakeholders.
First of all, the intervention program should address the local government of Anytown with the request for legal approvement of the program as mentioned earlier, financial help, and other resources needed. The rationale for this selection is that Anytown’s officials are the most interested party in finding a solution to the occurred problem since their duties concern control of the health care system. Besides, the particular issue of opioid use affects the citizens’ health and the local culture and economy too, as explained previously.
The generalized studies on opioid use show that different factors may cause the opioid crisis similar to the one that occurred in Anytown. According to Samuels et al. (2021), “opioid overdoses often occur in hotspots identified by geographic and temporal trends.” Therefore, the intervention program creators need to unite with the local government of Anytown to analyze the neighborhood and community-level factors that might cause the high rates of opioid overdose deaths.
Another stakeholder to which the intervention program will appeal is local social organizations, community centers, and volunteer groups. The realization of the program will require the support of interested third parties who are willing to contain the opioid crisis. The local community center can organize educational meetings for people who are addicted because not all people will be ready to ask for medical help directly. Some people will need social support and psychological help before dealing with opioid use disorder. Since the intervention program aims to help people first, it is a primary concern to ensure the patients’ willingness to gain that help.
Another significant reason for involving the psychologists in the program is the psychological symptoms of patients during the opioid use disorder treatment. According to the findings of Rosic et al. (2020), there is an association between psychological symptoms and treatment outcomes. The authors also state an “ongoing need to optimize integrated mental health and addictions services for patients with opioid use disorder” (Rosic et al., 2020). Besides, researchers consider the prevalence of suicidal ideation in this area (Rosic et al., 2020). Since it is the most undesirable outcome, it is crucial to provide the patients with proper psychological help and social support and guarantee their mental condition is stable before treating them with medications.
The next step in realizing the intervention program is successively introducing it to Anytown’s policy. The intervention program suggests using extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) and buprenorphine-naloxone (BUP-NX) to treat patients with opioid use disorder. According to the research done in the intervention program report, both these medications are safe and effective. Thus, another significant stakeholder should join the intervention program – Anytown’s local hospitals. It is essential to secure the availability of these medications and, if necessary, arrange the medical supply into Anytown with the help of its officials. The local hospitals’ administrations should present these medications to their workers and instruct them on their prescription, simultaneously explaining why these medications are introduced in the first place.
The following actions should address the doctors’ qualifications, especially in the field concerned. As it is a significant medical issue, the professionals who directly solve the crisis must be prepared and competent. The intervention program for helping people with opioid use disorder will be as effective on the whole as the separate actions of its implementation. There is no actual reason to doubt the professionalism of the hospitals’ workers. Still, there is a strong need to ensure the effectiveness of the intervention program by any means possible.
In addition, an anonymous hotline should be created for people suffering from opioid use disorder and seeking help because it will increase the patients’ response and the intervention program’s efficiency. The hotline should be completely free and available around the clock and provide callers with supportive conversation and proper advice, leading the caller to appeal to the medical center for further help and treatment. Forming such a hotline will require additional funding, yet the intervention program must work properly and achieve the set goals.
The final part of the intervention program involves launching a massive media campaign in Anytown’s local media resources so that the citizens could stay aware and well-informed about the opioid crisis. It is a matter of particular importance for families with children because parents should oversee their children and inform them about opioid use and its consequences in case of need. The intervention program concerns both helping addicted people and preventing others from becoming addicted.
As for the goals of the program, it aims to achieve the following outcomes:
- Reduced number of opioid overdose deaths by at least 20% over 18 months.
- Reduced amount of non-prescribed opioid use for recreational purposes by at least 20% over 18 months.
- Improved opioid prescribing practices in Anytown’s health care.
- Ensured constant availability of supportive services for addicted people who want to recover, including the free hotline and the unique facility providing psychological help and general aid.
Here is the list of the stakeholders to help in completing the program:
- Local government.
- Hospitals and medical centers.
- Local social organizations and community centers.
Finally, suppose the intervention program will succeed and appear effective in Anytown. In that case, it will be the motivation for improving it and expanding to a more wide-scale level for the benefit of the general population. Anytown is not the only place going through an opioid crisis, as described earlier. Many counties in the U. S. have the same problems, and this intervention program may be an excellent solution. Still, the situation in Anytown is the primary concern at the moment. Thereby it is essential to concentrate the efforts and introduce this program as soon as possible. The faster it happens, the more people can get help and recover from opioid use disorder.
This proposal aims to convince the addressee of the significance of the matter under discussion. The opioid crisis in Anytown affects several fields, such as health care, citizens’ social lives, and economics. Therefore, it is not just a matter of fighting this crisis for decreasing morbidity and mortality rates, and it concerns the actual life of Anytown and the future of successive generations. In brief, this intervention program is designed to reduce the morbidity and mortality rates of an opioid use disorder and stabilize the local economy. However, it is not achievable without the help of third parties, namely the stakeholders mentioned above. This intervention program is developed to help people and make Anytown a safer and healthier place. It is an opportunity to assist addicted people in need and contain the crisis from expanding and end it once and for all. That is why funding this intervention program is an adequate budget allocation. The goals set by the program concern one of the most challenging issues of the current time and ignoring it might lead to irredeemable consequences.
References
Haffajee, R., Lin, L., Bohnert, A., & Goldstick, J. (2019). U.S. Counties with high opioid-overdose mortality and low capacity to deliver medications for opioid use disorder: An observational study. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 3(S1), 129-129. Web.
Jiang, A., Godwin, J., Moe, J., Buxton, J., Crabtree, A., Kestler, A., Scheuermeyer, F., Erdelyi, S., Slaunwhite, A., Rowe, A., Cochrane, C., Risi, A., Ho, V., Brar, R., Brubacher, J., & Purssell, R. (2019). One-year mortality of patients treated in the emergency department for an opioid overdose: a single-centre retrospective cohort study. CJEM, 21(S1), S14-S14.
Rosic, T., Worster, A., Thabane, L., Marsh, D., & Samaan, Z. (2020). Exploring psychological symptoms and associated factors in patients receiving medication-assisted treatment for opioid-use disorder. BJPsych Open, 6(1), E8.
Samuels, E., Goedel, W., Conkey, L., Koziol, J., Karim, S., Scagos, R., & Marshall, B. (2021). Characterizing opioid overdose hotspots for targeted overdose prevention and treatment. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 5(S1), 84-85.