About the Opioid Toolkit
Local governmental health departments in Connecticut focus on promoting health and equity, combating disease and improving the quality of life for all residents. With an increased understanding that substance misuse is both a chronic disease and a public health issue, local health departments are playing a growing leadership role in addressing the opioid epidemic on the community level. This toolkit was created to better equip local health department staff to respond to this epidemic in the towns and cities they serve and to provide a one-stop reference guide of programs, promising practices and other valuable resources related to the opioid crisis. To learn more about the local public health system in Connecticut, visit https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Local-Health-Admin/LHA/Local-Health-Administration.
Note: This website and associated document was developed for use by Connecticut local health departments and districts, and references to “local,” “the state,” or “statewide” are specific to Connecticut. CADH thanks the Massachusetts Health Officers Association (MHOA) and their partners for assistance in preparing this adaptation of the Massachusetts Toolkit developed by MHOA. Additional thanks to the New England Public Health Training Center at the Yale School of Public Health for providing both staff time and financial support to make this toolkit possible, as well as the Connecticut Association of Public Health Nurses and the Connecticut Department of Public Health, Injury Prevention Program for their assistance.
Assessment functions include the accurate, periodic assessment of the community’s health status. Policy Development refers to the development of policies and plans that protect health and guide public health practice. Assurance in public health refers to a broad range of activities to ensure that people live in healthy conditions; this includes the delivery and evaluation of quality and accessible health services and the effective implementation of laws and regulations needed to protect and promote health. As the country began to explore health care reform, the public health sector called for a more comprehensive definition and description of public health practice (Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support, 2013). This led to the creation of 10 Essential Public Health Services (ES) by the Core Public Health Functions Steering Committee in 1994 (Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support, 2014). In Connecticut, local health departments and districts are obligated to provide services in all 10 essential services areas to their communities.
- ES 1: Monitor health status to identify and solve community health problems
- ES 2: Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community
- ES 3: Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues
- ES 4: Mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems
- ES 5: Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts
- ES 6: Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety
- ES 7: Link people to needed personal health services, and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable
- ES 8: Assure a competent public and personal health care workforce
- ES 9: Evaluate the effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services
- ES 10: Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems
Essential Measures:
A Local Public Health Toolkit for Addressing the Opioid Epidemic
Developed by the Connecticut Association of Directors of Health (CADH) in collaboration with the New England Public Health Training Center at the Yale School of Public Health and the Connecticut Department of Public Health, with input from the Connecticut Association of Public Health Nurses. This toolkit was adapted from the toolkit created by the Massachusetts Health Officers Association and the Education Development Center. Many thanks to these organizations for generously sharing their work and providing ongoing encouragement and support.
Essential Measures:
A Local Public Health Toolkit for Addressing the Opioid Epidemic
Our thanks to the Massachusetts Health Officers Association and their partners for their assistance in preparing this version of the toolkit. Additional thanks to the New England Public Health Training Center at the Yale School of Public Health, Office of Public Health Practice; the Connecticut Association of Public Health Nurses and the Opioid & Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention Program, Office of Injury & Violence Prevention, Community, Family Health and Prevention Section at the Connecticut Department of Public Health for their assistance.
1The term opioid designates a class of drugs derived from opium or manufactured synthetically with a chemical structure similar to opium. Heroin is a naturally derived opioid. Other opioids – including oxycodone (OxyContin®), morphine, meperidine, methadone, and codeine – are used therapeutically for the management of pain and other conditions. These products may be diverted from pharmaceutical purposes and used illicitly, and they have a high potential for abuse because they create psychological or physical dependence (Hahn, 2011).