The misuse of opioid medications harms many people, impacting both patients and communities. Some populations and geographic areas have sparse support services for opioid misuse, resulting in greater health harms.
The rate of opioid overdose deaths has recently increased in the United States for those living in rural areas.
We need to find new ways to help reduce harms from opioid misuse by supporting treatment for opioid use disorder and increasing access to medications that reverse opioid overdoses for all people, regardless of where they live or who they are. Community pharmacies, also called retail pharmacies, can help.
Project Description and Goals
The goal of this project is to understand how community pharmacies work collaboratively with patients to reduce the harm that opioid misuse can cause. We are also seeking to understand what challenges community pharmacies face when trying to decrease harm from opioids by supporting safe use of opioid medications and access to medications for opioid use disorder treatment and opioid overdose reversal.
We are focusing our information gathering efforts on community pharmacies in rural areas and communities representative of the US population, since these are the areas of highest need according to recent trends in opioid overdose deaths. We are sending out surveys and interviewing pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, patients, and other community members to achieve these goals. Ultimately, we want to explore effective ways to reduce the harm from opioid misuse among communities currently in need.
Publications
- Ferreri, S.P., Ngo, P.Q., Yen, K.D. et al. Examining rural community pharmacists’ knowledge and practices in opioid overdose prevention and treatment services in the Southeastern United States. Harm Reduct J 23, 11 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-025-01364-z
