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Last updated on Thursday, September 14, 2017
(UNDATED) - Today, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP), part of the Health Resources and Services Administration, will award approximately $3 million to 10 rural communities in Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Maine, Montana, and Virginia to increase access to treatment and recovery services for people struggling with opioid use disorder.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is a greater percentage of overdose deaths from opioids occurring in rural areas. Of the 10 states with the highest opioid-related mortality rates in 2014, six of them were primarily rural; in 2015, 7 of the top 10 states were primarily rural.
Many factors have been identified to explain the opioid crisis' impact on rural communities, including a lack of evidence-based opioid prescribing practices among healthcare providers, longer response times by emergency medical services, and stigma within the community surrounding individuals who use opioids.
FORHP's Rural Health Opioid Program is designed to reduce the morbidity and mortality related to opioid overdoses in rural communities by bringing together a variety of community partners to address the opioid crisis at the local level.
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