Developing Rural Epi Outcomes Workgroups- The Oklahoma Experience

Need for Local Epi Workgroups Evolving public health field Shift to empowering communities

Purpose of the REOWs Replicate State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup Assess, Prioritize Help advise community coalitions on data findings that support the selection of appropriate prevention strategies

Adult Alcohol Consumption, 2010 BRFSS

REOW Membership Local/State Health Agency Other Prevention Agency Non-Clinical Treatment Professionals Community/Social Services Law Enforcement/Highway Patrol Education Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics Oklahoma Juvenile Affairs Healthcare/Professionals/Pharmacy Youth Oklahoma ABLE Commission Other

REOW Tasks SPF SIG Process Assessment Capacity Planning Implementation Evaluation Role of REOW

Prioritization of Substances and Communities SEOW identified underage drinking and nonmedical use of prescription drugs for SPF SIG; underage drinking, marijuana, adult binge drinking, methamphetamine, alcohol use during pregnancy, inhalants, and nonmedical prescription drugs for the Block Grant SEOW made recommendation of priority and community REOW was tasked to decide which priority and which community

Prioritization of Substances and Communities Cont. Workbook created Assessment done in 3 phases: 1.Collecting, analyzing, and prioritizing consumption and consequence data 2.Collecting, analyzing, and prioritizing around intermediate variables relegated to the chosen priority- community capacity and readiness were also assessed 3.RPC and REOW Coordinator compiled results and wrote an epi profile for the region

Prioritization Results SEOW’s findings confirmed 12 Regions selected nonmedical use of prescription drugs for the SPF SIG, 5 chose underage drinking If they did not chose nonmedical use of prescription drugs for the SPF SIG, they chose it in at least one of their counties for the Block Grant

Prioritization Results Cont.

Challenges and Barriers REOWs vary region by region Shifting the focus of prevention framework A REOW candidates did not exist in every region Membership was hard to establish Participation of REOW members was not always promised

Challenges and Barriers Cont. Inconsistent attendance Suppressed, missing, invalid, unreliable, or insensitive data Inconsistencies in data collection methods In some cases, no local data collection system existed at all A lack of infrastructure for sharing data among state agencies

Successes Identified and establish relations with different agencies and individuals Develop an understanding and appreciation of the data collection process Empowerment Developed systematic ongoing monitoring system Identified the gaps and limitations of community- level data Identified and engage stakeholders in their communities

The Data Query System

Contact Information Young Onuorah, MPA, CPS Senior Prevention Program Manager OK Dept. of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Jamie Piatt, MPH SEOW Coordinator OK Dept. of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services