Tuscarawas County Tuscarawas County Anti-Drug Coalition Community - PDF document

4/26/17 Tuscarawas County Tuscarawas County Anti-Drug Coalition Community Background These are the most important things you need to understand about our community: 1. The area of focus, Newcomerstown, Ohio is a small rural Appalachian community of about 3,800 people. It is geographically isolated from county services and resources. 2. Newcomerstown has barriers and limited resources in the areas of: transportation, health care, social services, jobs, and housing. Resource poor areas potentially increase community members’ likelihood of substance use. 3. The Newcomerstown community has a committed group of community leaders invested in positive community change. They have an established history of collaboration across sectors which will impact the efforts to address prescription drug misuse. 1

4/26/17 Priority Problem to Be Addressed Tuscarawas County Anti-Drug We will address this substance Coalition will address because: prescription drug misuse. • Youth 30-day prescription drug misuse is higher than desired. • Youth perception of self-harm by misusing prescription drugs is lower than desired. • Youth perception of parental disapproval of them misusing prescription drugs is low, suggesting many youth do not perceive parental disapproval of use. Priority Population We will address prescription drug use in youth (between the ages of 14-18) in Newcomerstown, Ohio. 2

4/26/17 Priority Population These are the most important things you need to understand about our priority population: 1. 7% of 9 th -12 th graders had misused prescription drugs in the past 30 days. 2. Only 61% of students felt that misusing prescription drugs would be of “Great Risk” to harming themselves. 3. Only 87% of students felt their parents would feel their misusing prescription drugs would be “Very Wrong”. Problem Statement 7% of youth (between the ages of 14-18 in Newcomerstown Ohio) reported they had misused prescription medications in the past 30-days, based on our 2015 Community Assessment. 3

4/26/17 Jodi Salvo LSW, OCPSII jsalvo@pfcs1.org (330) 430-7320 4