The Question You Need to Address on our Blog - Please read the section below and answer/comment on the following. Should we invest coalition moneys in comprehensive prevention messages in central, south utah county, or both?
If you look at percapita rates, south county is most impacted by drug use. If you look at overall numbers, central county is most impacted by drug use.
What we know about our target population - per the data we've collected (for data see: http://sites.google.com/site/utahcountycoalition/data-collection-workgroup) we have learned the following:
PRESCRIPTION NARCOTIC: we have identified Payson, Springville, Santaquin, Spanish Fork, Salem, Mapleton, and Provo as potential areas to target. Here’s why:
- Santaquin, Payson, Springville, Spanish Fork, and Salem (south county) –Southern county cities consistently rank high across all consequence data. These cities have the highest (all based on per capita) ER visits, treatment admissions, Medical Examiner death data, and shipments of prescription narcotics into their communities. Additionally, youth in Nebo School district use prescription narcotics at slightly higher rates than the other two districts.
In short, prescription narcotics appear more available in these cities resulting in (1) higher use rates, (2) higher mortality rates (per capita) and (3) the highest, per capita, ER visits across Utah County. - Orem and Provo (Central County) – Orem and Provo have 50% of total narcotic related deaths in Utah County (not per capita). Provo and Orem also have a significant portion of IHC ER visits. Comparatively, Provo and Orem have lower per capita rates. This presents the coalition with an interesting dilemma – do we focus on communities with the most per capita problems or the communities with the largest numbers overall?
ALCOHOL: we have identified Santaquin, Payson, Springville, Spanish Fork, and Provo/Orem as potential areas to target. Here’s why:
- Santaquin, Payson, Springville, Spanish Fork (south county)– these southern county cities consistently rank high across all consequence data. Specifically, these cities have the highest (all based on per capita) ER visits, treatment admissions, alcohol related motor vehicle crashes (ARMVC), the lowest EASY compliance rates, highest density of alcohol outlets, and youth in Nebo School district consume alcohol at slightly higher rates than other districts. In short, alcohol in these cities is more available than other cities in Utah County resulting in (1) higher use rates, (2) highest number of alcohol related motor vehicle crashes (per capita) and (3) the most residents involved in alcohol related motor vehicle crashes across Utah County.
- Orem and Provo (Central County) – Orem and Provo make up 50% of all ARMVC in Utah County; however, they have lower per capita rates than the cities listed above. Comparatively, Orem has more ARMVC problems than Provo.
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