Our Work

The Collective Response Initiative York (CRIY) evolved out of a nearly decade-long effort to unite the York County community to address the negative consequences of substance use. Initially started in 2014 by county government officials to address a spike in heroin-related overdoses, the effort evolved in 2017 with the creation of a non-profit organization called the York Opioid Collaborative (YOC). YOC was created to coordinate and create collaborations that raise awareness and advocate for support to collectively implement solutions and programs for substance use disorders. “Collective impact” is a framework for uniting a community to transform outcomes by altering the conditions that hold an intolerable status quo in place. The York Opioid Collaborative is now working with community leaders to design the key elements and structures of the initiative.

The scope of the Safeguard Rx project encompasses the continuum of care for a patient. Beginning with initial evaluation and treatment of individuals with non-controlled substance approaches, followed by initial prescription with plan of care, ongoing monitoring using best practices in the care of the patient,  early identification of concerning patterns of use of medication, and appropriate intervention and referral for individuals who may have developed a substance use disorder as a complication of therapy.

 

The York Opioid Collaborative, in partnership with community partners, is developing an online platform for community distribution of Narcan.  Through community discussions we encounter barriers to access and availability of Narcan for individuals at risk and their support network.  The focus of the program will be on delivery of Narcan and education to individuals about how to recognize and respond to an opioid overdose.  The online platform will serve as a repository of information for York and Adams County residents about Narcan, as well as guidance for organizations looking to receive Narcan for dissemination to at risk individuals.   We are also developing awareness campaigns to break down myths about Narcan and reduce stigma.

Visit www.opalpa.org for more information about this program.

The York County Overdose Fatality Review Team was established by a joint initiative between several partners of the York Opioid Collaborative. It is a data use strategy of the Public Health and Safety Team. The establishment of an OFR was a recommendation from our pilot with the CDC Foundation. The multidisciplinary, multi-agency review team was assembled to conduct confidential reviews of individual fatal overdose cases with expert consultation from a wide array of stakeholders. The purpose of an overdose fatality review is prevention. The York County OFRT examines individual, organizational and system level factors related to overdoses. Safeguar(x)d will provide academic detailing to prescribers around prescribing guidelines, provide education to patients about safe storage and disposal and promote discussions with primary care settings for referral to treatment when needed.

The York Opioid Collaborative received a grant through the Memorial Health Fund for research and capacity building for a community-wide sharps disposal program. Every day, hundreds of people in Pennsylvania self-inject licit (i.e.. insulin) and illicit (i.e.. heroin) drugs. Many individuals are not properly instructed how or where to properly dispose of sharps. When sharps are improperly dispose of they put the community at risk. A community sharps disposal and collection program will reduce the utilization of used sharps, risk for accidental needle stick, potential transmission of infectious disease, and needles being improperly discarded into the environment. This project will focus on education/awareness, outreach and the development of a pilot disposal program with stakeholders. The goal is to identify the best disposal/collection options for York County.

PHAST is a framework developed by the CDC Foundation, modeled after NYC’s RxSTAT model.  The goal of PHAST is data-driven overdose response among Public Health and Public Safety Partners through action-oriented, facilitated targeted problem solving with shared accountability among partners and performance monitoring of interventions.  This is designed to enhance data collection and sharing among stakeholders to better inform community response and individual agency response.

Multi-sector partners in PHAST act as a representative of their agency.   They are engaged in or highly aware of the day-to-day activities of their own agency and are able to speak with authority regarding potential programmatic and policy changes.  PHAST members are committed to a shared north star, reducing overdoses and substance use in York County.