More than 30% of South Salt Lake’s unintentional overdose deaths occur in people ages 55 to 64, making it the highest demographic of any other age group. Salt Lake County’s data show the most at-risk group for unintentional overdose is found in people from 35 to 44, so this SSL statistic is notable. 

Carla Locatelli, Promise SSL’s prevention manager, said the recent results from the SSL Community Readiness Assessment showed a lack of understanding about opioid misuse in the city. 

“South Salt Lake is on stage two out of nine as far as community readiness regarding the opioid public health crisis, and stage two is denial,” Locatelli said. “That’s where we’re at as a community in general. A big element of my role is to bring education through community outreach.”

Locatelli and local interns put together an SSL Prevention Toolkit, designed to target opioid misuse while connecting residents to local and national resources. The toolkit covers early prevention efforts to mitigate substance misuse while helping residents understand the severity of the issue. 

According to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, SSL ranked fourth in the most drug poisoning deaths in Utah, behind Ogden, Carbon County and Salt Lake City. 

Locatelli’s efforts include breaking the stigma around opioid misuse by creating compassionate and educational community discussions and establishing a safe place for healing. 

While illegal drugs like heroin and fentanyl are most commonly blamed for unintentional overdose, Locatelli said most older people don’t understand the consequences of taking prescription opioids, like oxycodone and morphine.

“With elderly folks, friends and family might not see the danger because they’re in their homes and usually by themselves,” she said. “If you don’t know somebody going through that kind of addiction, then it’s not real. It’s not happening in our city if you only see it elsewhere. Denying it most likely makes people feel a little safer.”

For older people taking opioid prescriptions, Locatelli stresses that those drugs should be taken temporarily because of the ease of addiction. She also mentioned that oftentimes an older adult will take a pill and then forget they took it, prompting them to take another one too soon. 

Short-term effects of opioid misuse include brain fog, constipation, drowsiness and nausea, while long-term consequences include liver damage, respiratory problems, hormone disruption and the potential for a fatal overdose. 

Locatelli is hoping to get SSL to community readiness stage three, which is a growing awareness that there’s an opioid problem in the city. She knows it will take ongoing discussions, further educational programs and a dedication to reaching out to those who are struggling with substance misuse. 

She said parents should not be afraid to talk to their children and teens about the dangers of opioids and there are resources available to help them. For a copy of the information, search for Promise SSL Prevention Tool Kit at sslc.gov.

“Talking about it, especially to our youth, is important,” Locatelli said. “We’re going to be announcing our opioid public health crisis workshops. Those are 45-minute workshops where we have incentives and gift cards, through a grant, so that we can talk more about it. Anytime that we’re talking about prevention, we’re not working with fear. Fear doesn’t get at us anywhere. Education is what we need.

“These drugs are highly addictive, so we must understand, take all of that stigma out and actually have conversations. I would love to see more of that in our community.”