The IU School of Public Health in Bloomington has received a $1.7 million grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate the role of structural racism in stigmatization and deaths from opioid use in the Indianapolis African American community.
“The overdose crisis is serious and we are increasingly seeing evidence of racial disparities where black people are more disproportionately affected by overdose death,” said Dong-Chul Seo, head of the study and professor of public health.
Black Americans are about twice as likely to die from opioid-related overdoses as are white Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While 14% of those who died of opioids were treated for substance misuse, only 8% of Black Americans are treated, the lowest of all groups.
One community partner on this study is the Overdose Lifeline, a non-profit that educates about preventive measures against substance misuse. The organization noticed racial disparities when distributing naloxone in local Indiana communities.
“We had distributed like 35,000 doses of naloxone and only one person identified as a black or African American, which was a problem for me,” said Charlotte Crabtree, program and office assistant.
Recovery is possible, but people need to be reached before they overdose, Crabtree noted.
“We distribute naloxone and we distribute it free wherever you are at, you can put it in a request, we'll put it in the mail. If you...
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