Friday, April 26, 2024
4/26/2024
The project will focus on 10 target rural counties over the two-year grant period – five counties in the first year -- Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson and Jefferson; and five counties in the second year – Columbia, Hamilton, Hernando, Madison and Suwannee. These 10 counties located in the Florida Panhandle have suffered the impact of three sequential hurricanes (Hermine, 2016, Irma, 2017 and Michael, 2018) which caused widespread physical devastation and economic hardship and had a negative impact on health. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has just added to the economic hardships and has negatively impacted health conditions of area residents. The complexity of opioid use in rural communities calls for community-based organizing and engagement strategies that tap into the expertise of local, rural stakeholders to enhance community and individual resilience to reduce Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and related harms. This project will use the current Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Cooperative Extension Program and DISC Village (a State Opioid Response, SOR, provider) to deliver evidence-based training and related materials tailored to the needs of rural communities in the Florida Panhandle, targeting school officials, high school students, parents, nonprofit organizations and pastors. Specific virtual and in-person training, infographics, online resources guides, fact sheets, and toolkits will be developed on prevention strategies to reduce OUDs, harm reduction initiatives to reduce overdose deaths and exposure to bloodborne infectious diseases; and recovery resources (available in the area or remotely) to support individuals in maintaining the gains made during treatment. These resources will be provided to a youth, adults, community stakeholders and practitioners in easily accessible formats utilizing easy to understand content. Training will be made available on demand virtually and in person in five counties in the first year and five counties in the second year. Resources such as fact sheets and infographics will be also made available online and copied for distribution in the 10 targeted counties. The project will utilize paraprofessionals as community educators in each of the target counties. These persons, as community educators, will provide training in various venues that are suitable for reaching underserved or vulnerable populations, including schools, churches, community centers and one-on-one. As community liaison, these persons will conduct train-the-trainer sessions to enhance capacity for communities to train and reinforce dissemination themselves. The trainings and materials will include science-based information from such sources as SAMHSA, National Institutes of Drug Abuse, the Centers for Disease Control and the Rural Health Hub’s Rural Prevention and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders Toolkit.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
