Local groups thankful for state’s help in fighting opioid abuse
New campaign urges people to ask their doctors for alternatives
Even before Gov. Dannel P. Malloy unveiled a new, statewide campaign to address opioid addiction last week, members of the Stonington Prevention Council were on the same page.
“We were already thinking of doing an, ‘ask your doctor, be your own advocate’ campaign,” said Kristen King, who chairs the council and oversees Youth & Family Services in Stonington.
Many people, King said, aren’t aware they can ask their doctors for alternatives to opioid pain medications. More to the point, she said, many people aren’t aware there are alternatives to opioid pain medications in the first place.
Now, thanks to the statewide “Change the Script” effort, King and company won’t have to come up with their own logos and messaging as they pursue their idea.
Change the Script is a collaboration of several state departments that came out of Malloy’s Connecticut Opioid Response, or CORE, initiative. As part of the campaign, the state is distributing customizable posters and brochures to health departments, prevention councils and health care providers. It also has created posts that can be used on social media.
The state additionally plans to fill billboards and buses across the state with Change the Script messaging and to take out TV, radio, print and online ads.
All of the materials focus on the addictive properties of opioid medications and the proven ways to treat opioid addiction.
“It makes so much sense to hop on and participate,” King said. “The materials are there and it’s a great message.”
Working under the umbrella of the Ledge Light Health District, the Groton Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention and the Ledyard Prevention Council also intend to use Change the Script materials.
Speaking by phone last week, Ledge Light’s supervisor of administration, finance and special projects said much of what the statewide campaign promotes isn’t unfamiliar to the two local groups.
“Certainly many messages in Change the Script are in alignment with the things we’ve prioritized,” said Jennifer Muggeo, citing naloxone saturation, safe disposal of prescription drugs and the promotion of medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorder as examples.
According to Muggeo, the groups in Groton and Ledyard will take to social media and work with Southeastern Connecticut Television Studios to disseminate the Change the Script messaging. They’ll place brochures and posters in senior centers, police stations and businesses. And they plan to chat with local prescribers and pharmacists about the importance of using the statewide prescription drug monitoring system.
Until now, Muggeo pointed out, state and local agencies have pushed similar messages through different campaigns. It’s an approach she said probably isn’t as effective as a singular campaign.
“It all becomes diluted,” Muggeo said. “You’re seeing the same message in so many different ways that it doesn’t resonate.”
She said she believes a majority of groups working in the state will stick with the Change the Script messaging for months to come.
Rayallen Bergman, program coordinator for the Southeastern Regional Action Council, said the importance of readyto-go materials can’t be overstated. SERAC works with partners in 20 area towns, many of whom wear multiple hats and would have trouble finding time to design pamphlets, let alone money to print them out.
Bergman said eight southeastern Connecticut towns each received up to $5,000 in mini-grants along with the Change the Script materials. The funds came from DMHAS, which gets money from the federal level to oversee the State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis program.
According to Bergman, the towns that received money are Montville, Waterford, Colchester, Norwich, Ledyard, Groton, Griswold and Voluntown. They’ll be using it to help carry out the Change the Script campaign and to boost their overall response to opioid use in their communities.
For his part, Bergman keeps in touch with officials in each town to make sure they’re staying on track. From what he’s heard, many towns plan to target the messaging toward high-risk populations by placing materials and hosting educational events in homeless shelters, soup kitchens and recovery housing.
Change the Script “is opening up a little more time” for those working on the issue, Bergman said. “I don’t think they would be able to do this on their own without a large commitment.”