Understanding Opioid Risk

This project examines opioid overdoses in rural and micropolitan communities (populations 10,000 to 50,000) across the United States over the past two decades. The study focuses on how changes in community institutions, labor force composition, healthcare, economic performance, and social capital resources affect opioid mortality rates. A qualitative component of the project also considers the cultural and structural resources common to a select number of communities in the United States that are vulnerable to the mortality epidemic and those that remain resilient despite a number of structural risks.    

Project collaborators include Drs. David Peters and Andrew Hochstettler from Iowa State University, and Dr. Shannon Monnat from Syracuse University. This work is supported by a grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Agricultural and Food Research Initiative Competitive Program (Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities), Grant # 2018-68006-276640. The project extends from 2018 to 2022. 

For additional details and updates from Iowa State University, click here.