Health Promotion: Drug Overdose Deaths

Drug overdoses remain a leading cause of injury and related deaths in the United States (Spencer et al., 2023). The United States, as with other developed countries, has experienced an accelerated and alarming increase in rates of deaths linked to drug overdose within the past decade (Snowdon, 2022). Deaths due to drug overdose are now a major crisis and an issue of public health concern in the US. A significant number of deaths have been reported, especially among aged between 45-64 years. This health promotion paper aims to contribute to Healthy People 2030’s objective of reducing drug overdose deaths. It focuses on addressing such deaths among people aged between 45 and 64. It aims to utilize targeted and culturally sensitive health education and community-level strategies to create awareness and prevent drug overdose death. Focused educational and health promotion interventions address drug use factors leading to overdose and injury deaths with significant impact on health behaviors, including drug and substance use behaviors.

Drug Overdose Deaths Among People Aged 45-60 years

The drug overdose death crisis has been experienced across all social settings in the US with significant impact across all social settings, the economy, and age groups. The deaths over the decades have continued to rise, making it a serious public health and social crisis. This has also been made a major focus area of the Health People 2030 with the goal of reducing drug overdose deaths across all population groups in the US. The set baseline was a rate of 20.7 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 population as of 2018 (Healthy People 2030, n.d.). However, the most recent data shows that the situation has been getting worse over the years, with a reported rate of 32.6 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 population in 2022 (Healthy People 2030, n.d.). A major focus of the data on drug overdose-related deaths has been across age groups. Although the rates have decreased for age groups between 15 to 54 years, there has been a significant increase in drug overdose deaths among people aged 55 years and higher (Garnett et al., 2024). Age-adjusted rates ranging between middle-aged adults (45 years) and older adults (65 years) show concerning trends as compared to those aged groups lower than 45 years. Drug overdose-related deaths have risen among adults aged 55-64 years, from 48.1 in 2022 to 49.2 per 100,000 people in 2023 (Garnett et al., 2024). During the same period, those aged 45-54 years saw a reduction in the number of deaths from 55.3 per 100,000 in 2022 to 53.3 per 100,000 population in 2023 (Garnett et al., 2024). However, age-readjusted data to consider range from 45 to 65 years show an increasing trend with the highest death rates due to overdose compared to other age groups, with 51.6 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 population (Healthy People 2030, n.d.). However, the number of fatal overdoses is believed to be higher among middle- to late-middle-aged individuals than reported (McCabe et al., 2024).

Drug overdose deaths have been uncommon in middle to older adults in the US. However, this is changing due to various overlapping older social- and economic-related factors such as chronic pain, polypharmacy, family and economic stress, and poor mental health (Stewart et al., 2023). Such factors lead to an increased use of opioids, prescription painkillers, stimulants, and synthetic drugs like fentanyl (Garnett et al., 2024). Although the deaths may be due to intentional or accidental overdose, the rising number of fatalities among adults aged 45 to 65 years of age indicates a need to focus on this issue of concern from a social, clinical, and policy perspective. This project adopts concepts of health promotion, including tailored health education targeted at providing awareness, support, behavioral change, and addressing other systemic factors for substance and drug use and overdose within this age group as evidence-based approaches toward containing the crisis (Sistani et al., 2023). Although this project targets populations aged 45-60 years, it will contribute toward Healthy People 2030’s set baseline of 20.7 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 across all populations.

Summary of Articles

McCabe, A. J., Won, N. Y., & Cottler, L. B. (2024). The preponderance of opioid overdoses among middle-aged individuals in the US: Analysis of 911 dispatch data — Q1 2018 to Q3 2023. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 86, 94–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.AJEM.2024.09.057

This study assessed the trends in over 1,420,298 opioid-related overdose 911 dispatches across various age groups between Q1 2018 and Q3 2023. The research found that 48.9% of total dispatches were to middle-aged individuals. The majority (57.53) of dispatches were to White individuals, followed by Black (8.7 %), while other ethnic groups had lower dispatches. The article concluded that middle-aged individuals are at significant risk for opioid overdose. The findings from this article confirm the high risk of fatal drug overdose among middle-aged and older individuals and the urgency needed to research so as to identify contributing factors to develop targeted interventions.

Sistani, F., Rodriguez de Bittner, M., & Shaya, F. T. (2023). Social determinants of health, substance use, and drug overdose prevention. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 63(2), 628–632. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JAPH.2022.10.023

This study examined the link between social determinants of health (SDOH) and fatal drug overdose based on a social-ecological model. The article concluded that SDOH factors such as violent crime, access to the Internet, per capita income, social vulnerability index, and access to health care as key factors of fatal drug overdose. The findings of the article are significant to this health promotion project as it suggests a focus on socially vulnerable populations through community, policy, and healthcare system strategies to address the drug overdose crisis.

Stewart, S. A., Copeland, A. L., & Cherry, K. E. (2023). Risk factors for substance use across the lifespan. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 184(2), 145–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2022.2130025

This article presents a selective review of the epidemiological and clinical literature on alcohol and substance use from a lifespan developmental perspective. It compares and contrasts various risk factors across the life course in the development of substance use disorder. Major risk factors across the lifespan of an individual include traumas, social isolation, pain, financial stress, gender, social status, peer influence, and unaddressed mental and drug use issues. The information from the article can provide various aspects of the underlying cause of drug use and overdose at certain ages and help the proposed health promotion project to develop age-targeted interventions.

Health Promotion Discussion

The health promotion project adopts various health education strategies and approaches targeted at individuals aged 45-65 years across all social and racial groups. To ensure an age group-specific and culturally sensitive health promotion project, the following approaches will be adopted: community-level workshops, peer discussions, distribution of learning materials, and social media promotions. As targeting and promoting behavior change is the best way to achieve notable disease prevention in health promotion (Rubinelli & Diviani, 2020), the project will integrate aspects of mental health support and screening, peer empowerment and influence groups, and community health workers to achieve higher and deeper community-level reach.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as drug overdose deaths rise at an alarming rate above the HP 2030 set baseline, especially among aged groups between 45 and 65 years, a collaborative health promotion effort is needed to improve awareness of the risks related to drug overuse. There is a need to address root factors contributing to drug use and fatal overdose, especially among these at-risk populations.

References

Garnett, M., Miniño, A., Joyce, M., Driscoll, A., & Valenzuela, C. (2024). Drug overdose deaths in the United States, 2003–2023. NCHS Data Brief, 522. https://doi.org/10.15620/CDC/170565

Healthy People 2030. (n.d.). Reduce drug overdose deaths — Data. odphp.health.gov. https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/drug-and-alcohol-use/reduce-drug-overdose-deaths-su-03/data?group=Age%20group%E2%80%A0%20%C2%A7&state=United%20States

Rubinelli, S., & Diviani, N. (2020). The bases of targeting behavior in health promotion and disease prevention. Patient Education and Counseling, 103(12), 2395–2399. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PEC.2020.08.043

Snowdon, J. (2022). Drug overdose death rates in different countries: Who should be alarmed? Australasian Psychiatry, 30(1), 26–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/10398562221075192

Spencer, M., Garnett, M., & Miniño, A. (2023). Drug overdose deaths in the United States, 2002-2022. https://doi.org/10.15620/CDC:135849

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Question

Purpose

This assignment allows the learner to apply knowledge gained about health promotion concepts and strategies, enhance written communication skills, and demonstrate a beginning understanding of cultural competency.

Drug Overdose Deaths

Course outcomes: This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes:

Discuss the professional nurse’s role in health promotion activities. (PO 1 and 2)
Discuss health promotion, illness prevention, health maintenance, health restoration, and rehabilitation in relation to the nurse’s role in working with various populations. (PO 1, 2, and 8)
Identify health promotion strategies throughout the life span. (PO 1, 2, and 4)

Due date: Your faculty member will inform you when this assignment is due. The Late Assignment Policy applies to this assignment.

Total points possible: 100 points

Preparing the assignment

Follow these guidelines when completing this assignment. Speak with your faculty member if you have questions.

Identify a health problem or need for health promotion for a particular stage in the life span of a population from a specific culture in your area.
Choose one of the Leading Health Indicator (LHI) priorities from Healthy People. https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/leading-health-indicators
Research a topic related to health and wellness associated with one of the Healthy People topic areas.
Submit your topic to the instructor for approval at least 2 weeks prior to the final assignment due date, but earlier if desired. All topics must be approved.
You will develop an educational health promotion project addressing the population/culture in your area.
Use TurnItIn in time to make any edits that might be necessary based on the Similarity Index prior to submitting your paper to your faculty. Consult with your faculty about the acceptable Similarity Index for this paper.
For writing assistance, visit the Writing Center page https://mychamberlain.sharepoint.com/sites/StudentResourceCenter/WC.
Include the following sections (detailed criteria listed below and in the Grading Rubric).
1. Introduction and Conclusion- 15 points/15%
  - Introduction establishes the purpose of the paper and describes why topic is important to health promotion in the target population in your area.
  - Introduction stimulates the reader’s interest.
  - Conclusion includes the main ideas from the body of the paper.
  - Conclusion includes the major support points from the body of the paper.
2. Relate Topic to Target Population- 25 points/25%
  - Describes the topic and target cultural population.
  - Includes statistics to support significance of the topic.
  - Explains how the project relates to the selected Healthy People topic area.
  - Applies health promotion concepts.
3. Summary of Articles- 25 points/25%
  - A minimum of three (3) scholarly articles, from the last 5 years, are used as sources.
  - Articles meet criteria of being from scholarly journals and include health promotion and wellness content.
  - At least one article is related to the chosen cultural group.
  - Summaries all key points and findings from the articles.
  - Includes statistics to support significance of the topic.
  - Discusses how information from the articles is used in the Health Promotion Project, including specific examples.
4. Health Promotion Discussion – 25 points/25%
  - Describes approaches to educate the target population about the topic.
  - The approaches are appropriate for the cultural target population.
  - Identifies specific ways to promote lifestyle changes within the target population.
  - Applies health promotion strategies.
5. APA Style and Organization – 10 points/10%
  - TurnItIn is used prior to submitting paper for grading.
  - Revisions are made based on TurnItIn originality report.
  - References are submitted with assignment.
  - Use current APA format and is free of errors.
  - Grammar and mechanics are free of errors.
  - Paper is 3-4 pages, excluding title and reference pages.
  - Information is organized around required components and flows in a logical sequence.

Drug overdose deaths

https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/leading-health-indicators

Health Promotion: Drug Overdose Deaths