Drug overdose
drug overdose
Most overdose deaths in 2021 involved synthetic opioids. Polysubstance drug use, using more than one drug at a time, is increasing in the U.S.
Our Research and Practice Action Teams (RPATs) are topical areas of focus.
Since 1999 over 1 million people have died from a drug overdose including from prescription opioids, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
Topics we study:
- Opioid overdose prevention
- Prescription drug monitoring programs
- Prescriber education
- Surveillance and trends
- Addiction treatment
- Opioid use and falls risk
- Pain management
- Priorities to address the overdose crisis
- Overdoses among rural populations
Tools, handouts, and reports
- Policy and Program Recommendations to Reduce Overdose Deaths in Rural Iowa
- Report: The Prescription Opioid Crisis: Policy and Program Recommendations to Reduce Opioid Overdose and Deaths in Iowa
- UI IPRC Inventory of Iowa Opioid Policies and Programs (2019)
- Addressing the growing opioid crisis: A summary of (UI IPRC) opioid work
- Aging and deprescribing medications (CDC video)
Blog posts
New research
(coming soon)
Our partners in drug overdose prevention
- Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
- Cedar Rapids Police Department
- Eastern Iowa Heroin Initiative
- Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition
- Iowa Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy
- Iowa Poison Control
- UI Hospitals and Clinics
Our drug overdoses team includes a UI Research Team Lead and a Practice Team Lead:
- Barbara St. Marie, PhD, AGPCNP, Associate Professor, UI College of Nursing
- Monica Wilke-Brown, MSW, State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis (STR) / State Opioid Response (SOR) Project Director, Iowa HHS