Projected Estimates of Opioid Mortality After Community-Level Interventions

The United States is facing a crisis of opioid-related overdose. At this time, more people die of overdose every year than died of AIDS at the peak of the HIV epidemic. Communities seek effective responses to prevent opioid death.

The National Institutes of Health and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration HEALing Communities Study has set a goal of reducing opioid overdose deaths in US communities by at least 40% by 2022. Limited evidence exists to guide communities as they set priorities for implementing local responses. Understanding the combination of evidence-based approaches needed to achieve a 40% reduction is vital. Therefore, they used simulation modeling to investigate combinations of community-level interventions to determine their association with overdose rates.