Dayton area heroin crisis is topic of June 19 seminar

In Montgomery County, 226 people died of an unintentional drug overdose in 2013, up 33 percent from 2012, according to the annual Poisoning Death Review report prepared by the Boonshoft School of Medicine Center for Interventions, Treatment and Addictions Research (CITAR). More than half of those cases involved heroin.

To meet this deadly challenge, public health officials, health care professionals, social workers and law enforcement officials are collaborating to educate health care providers and the public about heroin use in Montgomery County.

The Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine Center for Healthy Communities HealthLink and the Ohio Statewide Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Region IV, along with the Alcohol Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) for Montgomery County, are cosponsoring a seminar, “The Heroin Crisis: Our Community’s Challenge.”

The seminar will be on Friday, June 19, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Montgomery County Educational Service Center, 200 South Keowee St., in Dayton. Parking is free.

Attendees will learn about the physiological aspects of addiction, the socioeconomic and behavioral impact of heroin addiction on the community and the collaborative efforts and local resources being used to address the heroin crisis.

Presenters include Andrea Hoff, director of community engagement and special initiatives, ADAMHS Board for Montgomery County; Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer; Josephine Wilson, D.D.S., Ph.D., director of the Substance Abuse Resources and Disability Issues program and professor of community health, Boonshoft School of Medicine; Melanie Glover, M.D., Premier Health specialist; Monica Sutter, chemical dependency nurse, Good Samaritan Hospital, and adjunct faculty, Clark State Community College; and Colleen Smith, director of substance abuse services, Samaritan Behavioral Health.

Space is limited. There is a $40 nonrefundable registration fee. Registration opens May 5 and closes on June 2.

For more information and to register, go to medicine.wright.edu/healthlink.

For more information, call Cindy Bradley at (937) 775-8248 or lucinda.bradley@wright.edu.

The Center for Healthy Communities HealthLink and AHEC Region IV present the series of continuing education quarterly seminars for health care professionals and interested community members.