In the late 1990s, doctors were told by pharmaceutical companies that opioid pain relievers were not addictive and that they could prescribe them freely to patients in severe pain. As a result, doctors began prescribing opioid pain medications at a much higher rate. People began abusing these medications and the misuse of prescription and non-prescription opioids grew at an alarming rate. In 2017, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. Since then, opioid use and opioid related deaths have continued to increase prompting concern from government officials, healthcare providers, and public health advocates (HHS, 2023). Here we explore the current impact of the opioid epidemic and the current intervention strategies as well as explore using exercise as a complementary treatment for recovery.

Submitted as part of the BMS-515 Public Health and US Healthcare System course for MUCOM Research Day.

Creator

• Edwards, Titus

Language

• English

Keyword

• opioid addiction

• public health emergency

• complementary treatment

• symptoms of withdrawal

Date created

• 2023

Resource type

• Poster

Rights statement

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/