Berg on team studying opioid use in rural communities

Mark Berg, director of the PPC Crime and Justice Policy Research program, is participating in a study to learn why death from opioid overdose is more prevalent in rural communities across the country than in urban areas. Berg is part of a team of researchers from Iowa State University and Syracuse University, who were awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund the project.

The goal of the study is to identify prevention strategies and use data to predict which communities may be at risk. The researchers will collect data from affected persons to determine strategies that have and have not worked in fighting the opioid epidemic. An advisory panel made up of law enforcement and court officials, public health experts, city and county officials, medical professionals, and former addicts and family members, will help to guide the research. Rural areas and micropolitan communities (populations 10,000 to 50,000) around the country will be the focus of the study.

To read the full release from Iowa State University, click here.