DRUG AND OVERDOSE PREVENTION

Stanton, KY (4-15-2020) – Powell County Health Department is pleased to announce it has received a $170,000/year, three- year grant from the University of Kentucky’s Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC).

The project will be called Powell County CARES and will aim to tackle the burden of substance abuse from many different areas: Collaboration, Access to treatment, Rapid response, Education and Syringe exchange. Staff will use evidence-based strategies that will include coalition building, naloxone distribution, 911 Good Samaritan law education and linkages to treatment and other resources through the syringe exchange program.

In 2017, Kentucky had the fifth highest drug overdose fatality rate in the United States. In an effort to combat the evolving opioid overdose epidemic, KIPRC was awarded a three-year, $23 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to implement the Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) strategy.  OD2A integrates overdose surveillance and prevention strategies to reduce the problem of substance misuse and drug overdoses in Kentucky. Through OD2A, KIPRC has awarded six local health departments/districts mini-grants to further their overdose prevention initiatives.  Those awarded include Northern Kentucky District, Lake Cumberland District, Lexington-Fayette, Franklin, Jessamine and Powell Counties.

“We are honored to have been among the six health departments chosen to receive this grant funding,“ said Stacy Crase, Public Health Director at Powell County Health Department. “Because we are one of the smaller counties with fewer resources, additional grant funding such as this gives us opportunities for programs that otherwise, we would not have. We look forward to working with our community partners to help save lives in Powell County.”

KIPRC Director Terry Bunn is serving as co-principal investigator on the project.  “Local health departments are leaders in their communities responding to the drug overdose crisis”, said Bunn, professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health. “By partnering with local health departments, we are better able to build long-term prevention capacity and promote effective programs and interventions that use local data and community knowledge to combat the epidemic of overdoses. We are grateful to partner with these health departments who are making a difference in their communities.”