NEURISA Day 2019

Session 5

Methods and Applications of Overdose Analysis within the North-East Region
Massachusetts, like the rest of the country, is suffering through an opioid epidemic with overdoses touching every community. GIS remains a key reactionary edge against the epidemic and the overdoses accompanying them. The methods, applications, and data for the overall analysis of overdoses have changed over time. While the baseline density/hotspots methods may complete the task of the most basic analysis; the overall problem cannot be properly understood. Utilizing different modalities of analysis and dissimilar data sets can lead to a wide variety of spatial-temporal questions being answered. These questions include but are not limited to, what the average time of day for an overdose is, when is the average date of overdose, along with the corresponding spatial correlation, etc. Bringing in dissimilar data sets may lead to unseen relations like the relation between prison releases and overdoses. Finally, dissimilar datasets have other applied applications, including cross/inter-department data standardization and review. The methods and applications were applied to multiple ongoing projects within the Worcester Division of Public Health. One of the projects includes the mobile Harm Reduction van with funding from the Massachusetts Opiate Abuse Prevention Collaborative. The goals of these projects are not only to understand the overdoses but to reduce opioid abuse, while providing residents with the treatment and care they need in the most effective manner.
---Please note no sensitive (PHI) data will be directly presented.

Author: Noah Berkowitz