New ReviveAR app offers a chance for opioid recovery
Spread the word among your workforce: Arkansans needing care for opioid substance use disorders have a comprehensive new resource at their fingertips. ReviveAR is a new app by the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership (ARORP) to empower Arkansans to take control of their relationship with opioids and give them the tools to save lives. The free app is available in the Apple and Google app stores.
This opioid prevention, treatment and recovery initiative is funded by a master settlement from the National Prescription Opiate Litigation. The settlement funds were evenly split between the Arkansas Municipal League, the Arkansas Association of Counties and the Office of the Attorney General, the three organizations that now comprise ARORP. Their joint efforts form an unprecedented initiative that brings local governments together to combat opioid misuse in the state.
ReviveAR is one of numerous ways the settlement funding is being used to reduce opioid dependence in Arkansas, and it has tremendous potential for empowering those who feel disenfranchised by their relationship to opioids. Currently, ARORP’s focus is on getting the word out to Arkansans about the app’s resources, so more Arkansans can download it to their devices.
The app, billed as a one-stop shop to combat opioid misuse in the state, can help in numerous ways. At the top of the app, a large red button links to help (in English and Spanish) for responding to an overdose, including a direct link to call 911 and visual instructions describing how to help a person who may be overdosing. The instructions also illustrate how to administer the anti-opioid drug Naloxone if they have it on hand.
Besides assisting with lifesaving measures during an overdose, the app also contains:
- Free training materials and information
- A way to report lives saved with the app
- Links to request Naloxone for individual, school or organizational use
- Family support at the state and national level
- Information about prevention, treatment and recovery resources for Arkansans
- Locations of AR Take Back boxes to drop off unused opioids at designated collection facilities
- Information about the AR Opioid Recovery Partnership
In the first half of 2023, 45 people died from opioid-related overdoses in Pulaski County alone. “The number of drug overdose deaths are rising at a rapid rate in Arkansas, and opioid overdoses account for more than half of them,” said Kirk Lane, director of the ARORP, in a news release about the new app. “Our priority has always been the health and well-being of Arkansans, and this innovative solution marks a significant step forward in our efforts to combat the opioid crisis and save lives.”
Opioid use disorders touch many families in Arkansas. Because the app is a discreet, personal resource, the backers hope it will prove to be an appealing and effective tool to get help to Arkansans.
To share with your employees: download and print or share this ReviveAR flyer and link to the ReviveAR website in your internal communications or post in your facilities. There’s a good chance people in your workforce or someone in their families have been negatively affected by the misuse of prescription opioids.