Online Program

332305
Mapping an Opioid Overdose Prevention Program from Jail to Community


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 1:30 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.

Anne Siegler, MPH, Bureau of Alcohol & Drug Use Prevention, Care & Treatment, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Long Island City, NY
Alison O. Jordan, LCSW, Correctional Health Services' Transitional Health Care Coordination, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, East Elmhurst, NY
Allison Dansby, MSW, CHS Transitional Health Care Coordination, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY
Cameron Paine-Thaler, Correctional Health Services, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY
Amu Ptah-Riojas, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY
Randi Sinnreich, LMSW, Correctional Health Services, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, East Elmhurst, NY
Steve DiLonardo, M.Sc., Primary Care Information Project, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Long Island City, NY
Zachary Rosner, MD, Correctional Health Services, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY
Issues: The Opioid Overdose Prevention Program implemented at the Visitor’s Center on Riker’s Island in New York City (NYC) addresses the need of opioid overdose awareness and prevention in under-served communities. Previously incarcerated individuals are 129 times more likely to die of an opioid overdose death in NYC, when compared to all opioid users.

Description:Those visiting people detained at Riker’s Island are trained to correctly identify an overdose, respond appropriately, and administer an opioid antagonist nasal spray. Upon leaving, visitors are offered a free kit including two doses of a generic antagonist spray. All recipients of the overdose prevention kit provide basic demographic data including zip code.  The goal of this evaluation was to determine whether the overdose prevention kits are successfully reaching NYC communities with the highest rates of reported opioid overdoses, concentrated poverty (>45,000 individuals living below the federal poverty level), and formerly incarcerated individuals.

Lessons Learned: Results suggest that a high number of kits are being distributed within these communities: 34.6% of kits went to neighborhoods with above-average opioid overdose reports, 22.4% to neighborhoods with the highest rates of residentsre-entering from incarceration, and 15.1% to areas with the highest poverty rates.  

Recommendations: These initial findings indicate that distributing health education and overdose prevention material at a jail setting can directly target under-served populations. Health policies that include correctional settings have great potential for impacting community health, engaging with visitors and preparing residents for community life.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related education
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the effectiveness of an Opioid overdose prevention program in a jail setting. Demonstrate the significance of conducting community health initiatives in a jail setting.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I designed and developed the approach in collaboration with colleagues at DOHMH and oversee the social work intern who analyzed the data for this project. I have been overseeing transitional programs in NYC jails for over 10 years and have supervised many student interns over the years since receiving my MSW and then LCSW.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.