Drug Overdose Prevention Program
Mission
To advance and evaluate comprehensive state-level interventions for preventing drug overuse, misuse, abuse, and overdose.
What we do
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Partner with the Governor’s Task Force on Overdose Prevention and Intervention to implement the statewide Strategic Action Plan, focused on Prevention, Treatment, Rescue, and Recovery strategies.
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Ensure community access to naloxone, especially to high-risk populations.
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Implement hospital discharge standards as a part of the Rhode Island Levels of Care for Emergency Departments and Hospitals for Treating Overdose and Opioid Use Disorder.
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Improve access to Rhode Island drug overdose data and treatment/recovery resources through PreventOverdoseRI.org.
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Convene a multi-disciplinary Drug Overdose Fatality Review Team, in coordination with the Substance Use Epidemiology Program, to identify systematic and community-level gaps.
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Deploy peer recovery specialists who are dual-certified as community health workers to locations with increased overdose activity to connect people to basic needs, harm reduction services, and treatment and recovery support.
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Enhance the Rhode Island Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) to increase prescriber and pharmacist use.
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Educate prescribers on Rhode Island’s safe opioid prescribing regulations through customized one on one or group sessions. more
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Monitor statewide drug overdose activity through enhanced data surveillance systems.
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Utilize a publicly-accessible Drug Overdose Surveillance Data Hub highlighting municipal, county, and statewide trends. Featured surveillance systems include emergency department visits, emergency medical service runs, non-fatal toxicology, overdose fatalities from the RIDOH's Office of the State Medical Examiners and the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System, and prescribing data for the Rhode Island Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.
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Provide technical assistance and funding to communities to rapidly respond to the overdose crisis.
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Empower communities and individuals through statewide public awareness communications campaigns.
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Deliver technical assistance to local and national partners as an expert advisor and model state in responding to the overdose crisis.
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Collaborate with the Substance Use Epidemiology Program to utilize data to inform and drive statewide prevention efforts.
Rhode Island Department of Health