Conducting community education about overdose was identified by the Substance Use Prevention Alliance as an action that, when combined with other actions in our community, has a reasonable chance of making a difference in unintentional medication and drug overdose in our community. This is a new program in our community.

The priority population/customers for conducting community education about overdose are individuals at risk of overdose and their loved ones, and community education about overdose aims to make a difference at the individual level. Implementation will take place through treatment providers, the homeless shelters and soup kitchens, family support groups and mass media.

This strategy addresses health disparities by educating individuals who are more likely to experience or witness an overdose.  

2020 Update:

North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition (NCHRC) continued to prioritize overdose prevention education and trained over 200 individuals in 2020 (NCHRC, 2020).  

The partners for conducting overdose education include:

Evaluation Plan:

We plan to evaluate the impact of conducting community overdose education through the use of Results-Based Accountability™ to monitor specific performance measures. We will be monitoring How Much, How Well and/or Better Off Performance Measures. Our evaluation activities will be tracked in the Work Plan table, above. 

Sustainability Plan:

The following is our sustainability plan for community overdose education: 

• Sustainability Components:
  • This is a low-cost program, as the training packet has no cost.  Minimal costs will be incurred when printing copies. 
  • Tracking performance measures will demonstrate program value to potential funders.  
  • The Substance Use Prevention Alliance is comprised of champions who are dedicated to promoting and providing overdose education.