Speaker discusses opioid crisis through a population health perspective

PHILADELPHIA — The key issue in opioid abuse is that addiction thrives among populations marked by violence, homelessness and employment, according to a speaker at Modern Healthcare’s 2017 Healthcare Issue Briefings. The topic of the briefing was seeking solutions to the opioid crisis using a population health approach.“Here is the issue, I think addiction thrives in populations that do not,” David B. Nash, MD, MBA, FACP, dean of Jefferson College of Population Health at Thomas Jefferson University, said during the panel discussion. “That is the key issue. If they do not have jobs, if they do not have housing, there is violence. Sure, it is [the] doctor prescribing opioids. Maybe that is part of the central issue but, to us, it is addiction thrives in communities that are not thriving.”