Ohioans without opioid addiction treatment near home are less likely to maintain their sobriety, and Ohio State University researchers found these provider deserts throughout Franklin County.
An area is considered a desert if the distance from a person s home to a provider is a mile or more away, a two-minute drive by car or more than 30 minutes away on public transportation, according to a study published Wednesday in the medical journal PLOS ONE. Research has shown the likelihood of someone staying in treatment drops by up to 50% when a treatment provider is more than a mile away. The main message is that opioid treatment deserts exist in Franklin County, said Dr. Ayaz Hyder, an assistant professor in Ohio State’s College of Public Health who led the study. They are spread out; they re not concentrated in one specific area … they are everywhere.
Special to The Times
Eighty-four students at Hilliard City Schools have been hospitalized for mental health issues during the pandemic, officials say, an estimated fourfold increase over the average year.
The district, home to about 16,000 students, has also seen 660 students contract COVID-19, seven of whom were hospitalized with the new disease, according to state and local records.
The increase in mental health emergencies underscores the stakes of a difficult consideration for school administrators and parents: how to weigh the knowns and unknowns of a deadly pandemic that principally spreads through person-to-person contact against the collateral damage of keeping children out from school and isolated.