Ohio University announced Thursday that it will partner with universities across Ohio as part of a federally funded study to reduce the state’s opioid overdose rate by 40 percent over the next three years.
The $65.9 million study aims to reduce the opioid overdose rate in 19 counties, including Athens, according to a news release.
The initiative is part of the HEALing Communities Study, which aims to build evidence-based interventions across health care, behavioral health, justice and other community settings, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s website.
“This coordinated, collective approach will enable us to form evidence-based approaches geared toward positively impacting the Ohio communities that have been most affected by opioid abuse,” Tracy Plouck, an executive in residence in the College of Health Sciences and Professions, said.
Between 2010 and 2016, 13,059 Ohioans died from opioid overdoses, according to a study done by the Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health, an initiative formed by OU’s College of Health Sciences and Professions and University of Toledo’s College of Health and Human Services.
Ohio State University, the University of Cincinnati, Case Western Reserve University, the University of Toledo and Wright State University are all joining OU for the cause, according to a news release. Leaders from stage agencies and community organizations are also contributing.
