Rural Communities Opioid Response Program-Overdose Response - Tooele is a HRSA-designated rural area and experiences poor health outcomes when compared to the state of Utah. They have the 4th highest overdose death rate, the 2nd highest rate of adverse childhood experiences, and the highest adult prevalence of depression. Our target populations includes individuals with substance use disorder that experience overdose and with high frequency use of emergency medical services. These populations experience barriers to health such as being underinsured, lacking access to social services, being underemployed or unable to work, stigma, disability, comorbidities, and poor health literacy. Our project goal is to expand substance use disorder treatment and recovery services to rural communities through community paramedicine and expanding the recovery community. USU will partner with Mountain West Ambulance who has the expertise and capability to implement community paramedicine. Community paramedics overcome health barriers faced by rural residents by providing in-home treatment, providing education, referring patients to long-term treatment, and connecting individuals to social services. Community paramedicine is used nationwide and is a proven strategy to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and emergency department visits, reduce healthcare costs, improve health outcomes, connect patients to referral resources, and reduce overdose. In tandem with community paramedics, funding will support a peer support specialist to co-treat. Peer support is another evidence-based strategy that has demonstrated positive patient impacts such as treatment adherence, increased hope, connection to social services, and reduction in substance use. The expected outcomes of this project are: • Improved patient health outcomes • Expanded access to care via community paramedicine and referrals • Reduction in unnecessary 911, emergency department visits, and unplanned hospital readmissions • Reduced healthcare costs for patients and cost savings for providers • Overdose reduction Utah State University Extension Tooele, began working on overdose prevention initiatives in 2020. Since that time, USU has delivered health education to over 12,000 community members and health professionals. The focus of that education includes accessing community resources, naloxone training, behavioral health best practices, harm reduction, and building community. USU has also engaged in capacity building activities, including coordinating the establishment of a methadone clinic, expanding home visiting services, bolstering the peer support specialist workforce, and expanded substance treatment within the county jail. To achieve these outcomes, USU specialized in consortium building, and created the Tooele Opioid Response Network (TORN) in 2021. TORN has since expanded to include 20 members, partnerships span government, law enforcement, fire/EMS, healthcare, behavioral health, and the recovery community. Many of the TORN members will be involved in the community paramedicine project, and have trust in the USU-led programs. USU is well versed in building community and professional partnerships to achieve impactful health outcomes.
