Rural Project Examples: Prescription drug misuse
Effective Examples
Project Lazarus
Updated/reviewed November 2021
Updated/reviewed November 2021
- Need: To reduce overdose-related deaths among prescription opioid users in rural Wilkes County, North Carolina
- Intervention: Education and tools are provided for prescribers, patients and community members to lessen drug supply and demand, and to reduce harm in prescription opioid use
- Results: Opioid overdose death rates have decreased in Wilkes County
Vermont Hub-and-Spoke Model of Care for Opioid Use Disorder
Updated/reviewed August 2020
Updated/reviewed August 2020
- Need: Increase access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder in rural Vermont.
- Intervention: Statewide hub-and-spoke treatment access system.
- Results: Increased treatment capacity and care coordination.
Midcoast Maine Prescription Opioid Reduction Program
Updated/reviewed May 2020
Updated/reviewed May 2020
- Need: Reduction in the number of emergency department dental patients abusing opioid prescriptions in rural southeastern Maine.
- Intervention: Using a one-page opioid prescription guideline, opioid prescribing and emergency room visits for dental pain decreased.
- Results: The rate of opioid prescription dropped nearly 20% after implementation, and in comparing the 12-month period before and after implementation, dental pain emergency department visits decreased from 26 to 21 per 1,000.
Other Project Examples
Morrison County Accountable Community for Health
Updated/reviewed September 2022
Updated/reviewed September 2022
- Need: To combat prescription drug misuse in rural Morrison County, Minnesota.
- Intervention: The Morrison County ACH brought together primary care, social services, law enforcement, and other partners to make sure that patients receive treatment and support.
- Results: One pharmacy saw a 40% reduction in the number of prescribed opioids, and the ACH was able to taper 684 patients off opioids completely.


Updated/reviewed December 2021
- Need: To reduce deaths due to opioid overdose in rural southeast West Virginia.
- Intervention: The Community Connections, Inc. Rural Health Opioid Program trained and certified first responders, healthcare staff, and laypeople in naloxone administration.
- Results: From October 2018 to September 2021, the program provided direct education to 638 individuals, trained 821 providers, and distributed 4,023 Narcan kits.
Project VISION
Updated/reviewed December 2021
Updated/reviewed December 2021
- Need: To reduce opioid use and increase quality of life in Rutland, Vermont.
- Intervention: Project VISION works to reduce opioid use through community engagement.
- Results: Since 2012, Project VISION has collected and disposed of 550 pounds of unused medications, reduced thefts by over 32%, and had a 50% improvement on a neighborhood quality of life survey.

Updated/reviewed August 2021
- Need: In northern Michigan, a need for an integrated approach to deliver medication-assisted treatment for established patients of Federally Qualified Health Centers with opioid use disorder.
- Intervention: Collaboration between one FQHC across 3 sites, a local waivered prescriber group, and a behavioral health organization created an integrated treatment approach for opioid use disorder.
- Results: Increased access to medication-assisted treatment and comprehensive substance use disorder services leading to increased retention in treatment and increased engagement in stable recovery from opioid and alcohol use disorders.

Updated/reviewed December 2020
- Need: To reduce deaths from opioid overdoses in rural Maine.
- Intervention: The MaineGeneral Harm Reduction Program provides community education/training for healthcare staff, first responders, community agency staff, and community members in rural Kennebec and Somerset counties.
- Results: MaineGeneral continues to train providers, provide stigma assessments, and distribute Narcan kits.

Updated/reviewed August 2020
- Need: Growing concern in rural Colorado communities regarding prescription and illegal opioid overdoses.
- Intervention: Education efforts for health workers and the larger community, in addition to establishing a naloxone overdose reversal drug program.
- Results: In addition to continuing to train nearly all first responders to administer naloxone, the organization provides harm reduction education in various community settings.
For examples from other sources, see: