Summit County ADM Board and Summit County Public Health Partner to Save Lives

AKRON, Ohio – A targeted postcard campaign administered this summer by the Summit County ADM Board and Summit County Public Health has produced an increase of over 700% in requests for a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose and save lives.

Naloxone, known by the brand name Narcan, is a life-saving medication for treating emergency opioid overdose that can be administered by anyone via a nasal spray. Summit County Public Health, as a member of the Ohio Department of Public Health’s Project DAWN network, distributes Narcan by mail for free upon request.

The County of Summit Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services (ADM) Board oversaw a microtargeted direct mail postcard campaign over the summer to encourage community members in areas where overdoses were at higher levels to request the mail-order Narcan as a measure to potentially save lives in their community. As a result, kit requests grew by over 700% between June and September versus the previous four-month period.

“Getting Narcan into overdose-affected areas of our community is an important piece of the ADM Board’s approach to providing tools to help mitigate overdose deaths,” ADM Board Executive Director Aimee Wade said. “While we are proud that our postcard campaign has resulted in such a significant uptick in Narcan kit requests, we are hopeful that the end result will be lives saved in our community and increased engagement in treatment services.”

The Summit County ADM Board partnered with Summit County Public Health on the campaign, which targeted 25,000 households in May and another 50,000 households just three months later.

“SCPH is proud to partner with the Summit County ADM Board to get the lifesaving medication Narcan out in the community,” Summit County Public Health Commissioner Donna Skoda said. “Community members can use it to save the lives of those affected by opioid addiction.”

For more information about Project DAWN or to request your own Narcan kit, visit https://www.scph.org/counseling/project-dawn-narcan.