Greater hartford and greater new haven drug deactivation and disposal initiative - the greater hartford and greater new haven drug deactivation and disposal initiative will train 300 community…

Greater hartford and greater new haven drug deactivation and disposal initiative - the greater hartford and greater new haven drug deactivation and disposal initiative will train 300 community prevention advocates to provide culturally responsive prevention education to youth, parents, caregivers, and other community members, and distribute 50,000 free in-home drug deactivation and disposal pouches in the greater hartford and greater new haven communities. The initiative will use traditional, non-traditional, and social media outlets to raise awareness and attract partners to the effort. The partnership will engage community partner organizations to help implement and support the initiative, with a particular focus on organizations that are strategically connected within the proposed communities to help reach key audiences. Those served by the initiative are residents of the greater hartford and greater new haven communities. Fatal drug overdoses come at an immense cost to connecticut, reaching over $17 billion in 2017. In 2021, 1,527 individuals died from an unintentional drug overdose in connecticut. The greatest number of overdose deaths happened in new haven with 486 deaths, followed by hartford with 391. Sixty percent of new haven and hartford area deaths occurred in a residence, underscoring the importance of effective, accessible, at-home drug disposal methods. One in ten connecticut high school students reported taking prescription pain medications without a prescription or differently than prescribed. More than 30% of these students got the medications from their home, someone else's home, or were given the medications. Rising overdoses in hartford and new haven demonstrate the risks posed to residents by the accessibility of prescription medications in homes, schools, and communities. The goals of the initiative include: establish and support the infrastructure to promote and educate on safe drug deactivation and disposal practices and disseminate drug deactivation and disposal pouches; identify, educate, train, and support at least 300 community prevention advocates to help educate their communities and disseminate a total of 50,000 drug deactivation and disposal pouches in the greater hartford and greater new haven communities; and raise public awareness in these communities about the harms associated with opioid and other substance use in both english and spanish. The public awareness campaign will include a series of bilingual (english and spanish) print materials such as infographics and posters and provide for distribution throughout the communities of interest; a series of culturally appropriate, bilingual (english and spanish) public service announcements for TV, radio, print, and social media, disseminated using paid advertising, on-air interviews, live reads, and feature articles. Data will be gathered through surveys administered to the 300 community prevention advocates, as well as through an online survey intended for recipients of the pouches. Each pouch will have a QR code that links to an online survey, and recipients will be asked (but not required) to fill out the survey. After the initiative concludes, the partnership will develop and disseminate an evaluation report on the process and project outcomes.