Pacific AB
The landscape for evaluation of programs and policies to reduce the consequences of the opioid epidemic (306614)
*Elizabeth Stuart, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthKeywords: opioid policy, mixed methods, interrupted time series
The United States is in the midst of an opioid epidemic, with serious health and social consequences. States and local areas have enacted a heterogeneous collection of programs and policies aimed at reducing mortality and morbidity, ranging from increasing access to mediation assisted treatment to increasing substance use treatment in jails to anti-stigma programs to state policies such as prescription drug monitoring programs. Data sources available for these evaluations vary in terms of timeliness and quality, and include primary data collection activities, large-scale health insurance claims data, and state administrative data such as reports of deaths by overdose. This talk will provide an overview of the opioid crisis in the United States, as well as the current state of opioid policy research, intended to orient attendees who may not have deep expertise to the breadth and depth of work in this area. This will include highlighting state policy evaluation as well as “on the ground” rapid evaluations of high intensity interventions in two states, funded through a large-scale investment by Bloomberg Philanthropies.