Rural Project Examples: Prescription drug misuse

Effective Examples

Vermont Hub-and-Spoke Model of Care for Opioid Use Disorder

Updated/reviewed November 2025

• Need: In the early 2010s, needed increase access to medication treatment for opioid use disorder in rural Vermont.
• Intervention: 2012-2016 implementation of a statewide hub-and-spoke treatment access system.
• Results: The original system's increased treatment capacity and care coordination successes now are a permanent system of integrated care overseen by the Vermont state health department and Vermont Blueprint for Health.

Project Lazarus

Updated/reviewed May 2024

• 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.

Other Project Examples

Arukah Institute's Living Room Program

Added December 2023

• Need: To address high rates of substance use in Princeton, Illinois and the surrounding area.
• Intervention: The Arukah Institute, a local nonprofit organization providing mental health services, adapted a statewide model to provide support and a safe space for people in need of substance use resources.
• Results: The Living Room program had 1,485 visits in its first year, with 100% of clients served by recovery support specialists.