Interactive tool sheds light on opioid crisis in Appalachia

The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) on Tuesday released a data visualization tool that illustrates the opioid epidemic’s impact on the Appalachian region and its relation to various socioeconomic factors.

The Appalachian Overdose Mapping Tool integrates overdose mortality rates in each of the 13-state region’s 420 counties with data on unemployment, poverty, disability and other socioeconomic variables. Users can compare county-level data with regional and national trends.

The tool can generate fact sheets that its creators say can be used in community planning and opioid epidemic response efforts by revealing underlying systemic factors fueling the epidemic. While the tool is focused on overdose deaths in the Appalachian Region, its creators believe it will generate interest among policymakers and community leaders addressing other public health issues across the nation.

“The information we provide goes well beyond demonstrating the impact of opioid abuse in the Appalachian Region,” Michael Meit, co-director of the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis and leader of the NORC research conducted for ARC, said in a news release. “We hope it will help policymakers and community leaders develop an informed response to the challenges they face by revealing underlying, systemic factors that also need to be addressed.”

NORC at the University of Chicago is a nonpartisan research institution to guide programmatic, business and policy decisions. ARC is an economic development agency of the federal government and 13 state governments within the Appalachian Region.