Title: Describe the history and current state of the opioid crisis in Virginia.
Course: Patient Care Technician (14051-III) > Section: Describing the Opioid Crisis

Description should include

- the relationship between opioid prescribing and illicit opioid use to overall opioid overdose deaths
- the prevalence of co-occurring mental health disorders
- the shift in attitudes in the 1990s toward pain management and use of opioids, including the role of pharmaceutical marketing
- the stigma associated with addiction and the changing view of addiction from a moral failing to a chronic, relapsing disease
- statistics, trends, and demographics surrounding the crisis
- population health and other public health aspects of the crisis, including its effects on family and neonates, as well as overall health costs
- the Virginia Department of Health’s Declaration of a Public Health Emergency on November 21, 2016
- proposed legislation to address the crisis in Virginia (i.e., House Bill 2161 and Senate Bill 1179, which require the secretary of health and human resources to convene a workgroup to establish educational guidelines for training healthcare providers in the safe prescribing and appropriate use of opioids)
- the development of curricula and educational standards regarding opioid addiction.

Process/Skill Questions:

- What agencies participated in the governor’s task meeting on the opioid crisis?
- What educational organizations will be tasked with providing opioid training to their students?
- What is the benefit of educating future medical professionals about opioid addiction?
- What is the current attitude in society about opioid use and addiction?
- How is the local community affected by the opioid epidemic?

Teacher Resource:

- The Opioid Crisis Among Virginia Medicaid Beneficiaries