Dataset Information

Community Forums to Address the Opioid Crisis: An Effective Grassroots Approach to Rural Community Engagement.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

With opioid overdose deaths on the rise in rural Minnesota and across the nation, the call for community-based grassroots efforts is stronger than ever. Recognizing that substance use prevention and recovery programming rely upon community resources, collaborative teams planned and implemented a series of nine community forums focused on opioid and heroin use across rural northeast Minnesota to educate and unite invested community members on the critical public health issue. This article examines the outcomes of the forums and the ingredients of a successful forum.

Methods

Surveys were distributed at seven rural community forums to assess measures of growth in knowledge and awareness, as well as demographic characteristics of respondents.

Findings

Forums planned by university faculty and community members were effective in increasing overall awareness and knowledge of the opioid crisis within each community. Forums that were rated more highly by attendees included speakers from varied professional backgrounds and integrated cultural strengths. Communities that planned forums together have reported increased collaboration to prevent and address substance use and increased community member engagement on local grassroots coalitions since the time of the forum.

Conclusions

Community forums have functioned as an effective grassroots approach to engaging rural community members in opioid use prevention and intervention efforts.

SUBMITTER: Palombi L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6378421 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Community Forums to Address the Opioid Crisis: An Effective Grassroots Approach to Rural Community Engagement.

Palombi Laura L Olivarez Michelle M Bennett Laura L Hawthorne Amanda N AN

Substance abuse : research and treatment 20190217

<h4>Purpose</h4>With opioid overdose deaths on the rise in rural Minnesota and across the nation, the call for community-based grassroots efforts is stronger than ever. Recognizing that substance use prevention and recovery programming rely upon community resources, collaborative teams planned and implemented a series of nine community forums focused on opioid and heroin use across rural northeast Minnesota to educate and unite invested community members on the critical public health issue. This ...[more]

PMID: 30799927

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundAlthough Japan has a decentralized public health system, local governments have considered expert opinions over those of the community in decisions about public health programs. Differences in communities' interests may create gaps between health program objectives and implementation. We hypothesized that community-based participatory research (CBPR), which involves the community at every step, promotes effective program implementation and community empowerment. This study addressed the first step of CBPR, assessing community needs and developing tailored health program for a rural community in Japan.MethodsIn this sequential exploratory mixed-method study (qualitative followed by quantitative), we first formed a community advisory board (CAB) representing community organizations, city officials, and university researchers. The CAB conducted group discussions with community residents to identify the community's health issues and strengths. These group discussions were analyzed using thematic analysis, and the results were used to develop a questionnaire, which was subsequently sent to all households in the community to obtain priority scores for health issues and proposed action and to assess willingness to participate in community health program. The CAB then designed a program using the overall study results.ResultsTen group discussions with 68 participants identified the following health issues: 1) diseases; 2) unhealthy behaviors; and 3) unsupportive environment. Nature, vacant lots, and local farms were considered local strengths. Of a total of 1470 households in the community, questionnaires were collected from 773 households. Cancer, lifestyle-related diseases, and cerebrovascular diseases were ranked as the most important health problems. Improving services and access to medical checkups, use of public space for exercise, local farming, and collaboration with the community health office were considered necessary to address these health problems. Considering feasibility and the availability of resources in the community, the CAB decided to focus on lifestyle-related diseases and designed activities centered on health awareness, nutrition, and exercise. These activities drew on community's strengths and were adapted to Japanese culture.ConclusionsThe community's priority health problem was closely related to the epidemiology of diseases. The CBPR approach was useful for identifying community's needs and for designing a unique community health program that made use of local strengths.

Dataset Information

Community Forums to Address the Opioid Crisis: An Effective Grassroots Approach to Rural Community Engagement.

Purpose

Methods

Findings

Conclusions

Publications

Community Forums to Address the Opioid Crisis: An Effective Grassroots Approach to Rural Community Engagement.

Similar Datasets

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