Matthew Wagner – Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center

Wyoming State Opioid Response Grant Evaluation and Quality Improvement Analysis

Matthew Wagner — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 21:25:46 +0000

WYSAC has been chosen to assess the implementation and outcomes of the 2024 State Opioid Response (SOR) Grant for the State of Wyoming. Included in this evaluation is a comprehensive analysis of past data related to opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment and prevention programs.

Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Toolkit

Matthew Wagner — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 21:33:05 +0000

The Wyoming Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Toolkit is a collaborative effort between the Wyoming Department of Health and the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center at the University of Wyoming (WYSAC). Funded through the Wyoming Grant to Prevent Prescription Drug/Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths (PDO), this project is intended to make information about prescription drug abuse and related prevention strategies more accessible.

This website aims to provide resources for prevention workers and other stakeholders throughout the lifecycles of prevention efforts. It is modeled after the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), a five-step, cyclical process to help stakeholders understand and address issues of substance abuse and addiction in their communities. The SPF model includes the following components:

Assessment – Using current data to understand local needs
Capacity – Building partnerships and resources to have capacity to address prevention needs
Planning – Understanding best practices related to these needs and how to effectively implement them
Implementation – Delivering the best practices or programs selected in the previous step
Evaluation – Taking a look at how practices were implemented and whether they led to the intended outcome

Regardless of what step a community is at in its efforts to prevent prescription drug abuse, this website will provide the information and resources they need to get started, or to enhance work that’s already being done.

Stimulant Use in Wyoming

Matthew Wagner — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 19:00:45 +0000

The State of Wyoming expressed concerns that stimulant use, in particular amphetamine and methamphetamine use, was a potentially rising problem that communities and the state were having to address. WYSAC, as part of a contract with the Wyoming Department of Health, was tasked with gathering and reporting all available state-level data and information about this topic. The results from that data collection effort indicated that there was a gap in stimulant-related data. Specifically, consumption of illicit and licit stimulants remained low or was decreasing in recent years; yet, the consequences related to stimulant use were increasing.

Based on surveys of youth and adults, only small proportions of them reported having used stimulants in the past month, which has remained relatively stable over time. However, the number of admissions to treatment, methamphetamine-related arrests, and overdoses were rising. Ultimately, the report concludes that gathering more data about the risk factors related to stimulant use and misuse would bridge the knowledge gap between these divergent findings. It would also help policymakers and prevention professionals better target their support and interventions to address these concerns.

This report’s information is presented to allow the Wyoming government, community coalitions, and other stakeholders to choose and implement targeted strategies and solutions for prevention and treatment. To read the report in detail, see https://bit.ly/wystim. A condensed issue brief outlining the key findings of this report is found at https://bit.ly/short-wy-stim. For a one-page fact sheet highlighting key findings, go to https://bit.ly/wy-stim-fact.

This project is a part of the Wyoming State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) supported by the Wyoming Department of Health, Public Health Division, with funds from the 2015 Strategic Prevention Framework Partnerships for Sucess Grant by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

More People are Drinking During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Matthew Wagner — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 17:19:44 +0000

WYSAC recently completed an internet survey involving behavior and attitudes toward COVID-19. We found that both the sale and consumption of alcohol has increased from February to April 2020, during the pandemic. After governments and employers put into place COVID-19 mitigation efforts, 17% of people reported increased alcohol consumption. Approximately 60% of that increase was due to boredom, while almost 46% and 44% were due to isolation and stress, respectively. Moreover, when looking at sales data, there were 5% more wine and spirit sales in Wyoming between the first few months of 2020 than in 2019, despite a significant decrease in the number of eligible liquor licenses. Continued monitoring will help us understand if these rises in alcohol use are temporary or whether they represent a lasting concern that may affect health in Wyoming. To see a fact sheet of the survey results in detail, go to the following link: https://bit.ly/wy-alc-covid