249 - Amplifying the Voices of Priority Populations: Integrating Health Equity into Community Needs Assessments

Abstract Information: U.S. drug overdose deaths have highlighted disparities and inequities in prevention and treatment, including access and linkage to care and services. To better understand gaps in overdose prevention efforts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Overdose Data to Action: Limiting Overdose through Collaborative Actions in Localities (OD2A: LOCAL) cooperative agreement recipients conducted community needs assessments (CNAs). While efforts focusing on reducing impacts of overdose are central to this work, CNAs were designed to further identify the needs of priority populations as a way to be intentional about including voices of individuals most impacted by drug overdoses. Priority populations could include: groups disproportionately affected by overdose as well as those previously underserved by overdose prevention programs and the healthcare system; persons with lived and living experience with drug use or who experienced an overdose, including but not limited to people who are seeking care and services for substance use disorders; persons involved in the criminal justice setting, who might be incarcerated, detained, or recently released from incarceration; people experiencing a mental health condition; people experiencing homelessness or unstable housing; pregnant people; people who lack access to any or adequate health insurance; and specific demographic groups defined by race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and/or age. The specific priority populations were determined by each locality based on existing knowledge and data. In addition to assessing the needs of priority populations, another key aspect of the CNAs was recipients assessing gaps in the use of navigators to link people to care and harm reduction services. CNAs created opportunities to better understand communities disproportionately affected by drug overdoses, potential barriers to accessing care, and how using navigators could alleviate these challenges. During the CNAs, the localities engaged with their priority populations, either directly or through community partners, using data collection tools tailored to their local overdose prevention context. This process ensured the perspectives of priority populations were amplified and included in programmatic planning. This poster presentation will share lessons learned from OD2A: LOCAL recipients’ CNAs. Presenters will describe how CNAs were conducted and highlight perspectives of historically underrepresented populations in overdose prevention. Findings from CNAs are important to inform recipient planning of future overdose prevention efforts and could also inform overdose prevention implementation and evaluation. The presenters will also engage attendees in a dialogue to understand what techniques and tools others in the field are using to assess needs in a way that fosters storytelling from a health equity lens.