Title
Community Health Partnership Program Update - Coalition for Prevention, Addiction, Education, and Recovery (CPAR)
Presenter:
Mary A. Steiner, BSN, RN - Community Program Manager
Body
Summary:
Ms. Steiner will provide a briefing on the work of CPAR in addressing this critical public health issue. CPAR provides the following background information:
Deaths from drug overdoses in Colorado are reaching a crisis level. Not only does the state's death rate from overdoses top the national average, but those numbers have increased across the state, according to the Colorado Health Institute (http://coloradohealthinstitute.org/key-issues/detail/community-health/colorado-county-drug-overdose-death-rate). Within El Paso County the cause of death due to opioid overdose has steadily increased from 2010-2015, with the largest increase seen between the 2010-2012 and 2013-2015 time period. This increase in opioid overdoses correlates to the increase in heroin-caused deaths from 2010-2015.
We now know that overdoses from prescription opioid pain relievers are a driving factor in the 15-year increase in national opioid overdose deaths. Since 1999, the amount of prescription opioids sold in the U.S. nearly quadrupled, yet there has not been an overall change in the amount of pain that Americans report. Deaths from prescription opioids-drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone-have also quadrupled since 1999.
Previous Council Action:
N/A
Background:
Activities:
In response to the growing epidemic, Community Health Partnership (CHP) convened a newly formed coalition in March 2016 to address the prescription drug/opioid epidemic in El Paso County. The coalition is comprised of representatives from the following sectors in the community: elected officials, public health, emergency departments, hospitals, ambulatory care practices, UCCS Medical School, Peak Vista Community Health Centers' Nurse Practitioner Fellowship program, military, denti...
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