Primary Education Topic:
Healthcare & Aging
Other Education Topics:
Aging in Community
Health & Wellness
Legal & Ethical Issues
Mental Health & Aging
Almost half of opioid deaths are due to prescribed medications. Opioids include prescription oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl and others, as well as illicit and more potent drugs like heroin and synthetic fentanyl.
By William F. Benson and Nancy Aldrich
Rural older adults are dying from the opioid epidemic at a higher rate than older adults in the nation as a whole, yet fewer than one in 10 opioid treatment centers are located in rural America, and many rural first responders are not trained to administer life-saving medications for overdose.