Bright Nights Community Forum: An Opioid Crisis in Washtenaw County: What Can We Do?

Thu, 10/27/2016 - 3:05pm

When: November 15, 2016 at Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

The U.S. Surgeon General recently sent a call out to health practitioners and public health leaders to ask for help in addressing what he describes as “an urgent health crisis facing America”—the prescription opioid crisis. Washtenaw County is not immune. As the rest of the country, our community is the midst of an opioid epidemic, with dramatic increases in the number of opioid-related overdoses and deaths from prescription medications and heroin. In fact, between 2000 and 2014, the number of opioid related overdose deaths in Washtenaw County increased 1525%, from 4 deaths in 2000 to 65 deaths in 2014. The Washtenaw Health Initiative (WHI) Opioid Project was formed as a community-based, volunteer organization to help address this problem in Washtenaw County. The success of this initiative depends on community knowledge, support, and involvement. To learn more about the WHI Opioid Project, the University of Michigan Depression Center and the Ann Arbor District Library present this Bright Nights community forum. Dr. Stephen Strobbe, Clinical Associate Professor, University of Michigan School of Nursing, and Department of Psychiatry, will give a brief presentation, followed by a panel discussion, to raise and respond to the following questions: · Is there really an opioid epidemic in Washtenaw County? · What is the Washtenaw Health Initiative (WHI) Opioid Project? · What can I do in my own home—and community—to help? For more information on the U-M Depression Center, visit the Depression Center website at www.depressioncenter.org , or contact Stephanie Salazar, 232-0330, or sawaters@umich.edu.