Lerner Center News

According to Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion, the opioid crisis is not disproportionately rural, but mortality rates among different rural areas vary drastically, depending on factors such as work stability and social infrastructure like churches or sport leagues. 

 The Madison County Rural Health Council celebrated their Monday Mile walking program with healthy snacks, prizes, and group Monday Miles.

Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion, explains how Trump overperformed in places with high rates of drug use, suicide, and family distress. According to Monnat, Trump's message of economic nationalism and promises to bring back manufacturing jobs resonated with people in these areas who felt left behind by globalization and the decline of traditional industries.

The Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion at the Maxwell School announced its inaugural Lerner Center Faculty Fellows Grant Program, which will fund at least two research/evaluation awards in the areas of population health and health promotion. Awards up to a maximum of $25,000 will last up to 24 months.

Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion says long-running challenges in many rural communities are the underlying drivers of the increase in opioid overdose rates, things like economic decline and social isolation. 

Lerner Chair Shannon Monnat's research found that the Rust Belt counties that put Trump over the top were those that lost the most people in recent years to deaths of despair—those due to alcohol, drugs, and suicide.

"We must tackle root causes, which... drive suicide, alcohol-related deaths and more," says Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.

"Opioids may have been the spark, but a spark needs kindling in order to ignite," says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.

"This can’t be about government doing it all. It has to be about collaboration and community cohesion. Opioids thrive on isolation. The only way to combat this problem is community," says Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.

"Drug overdose rates just as with alcohol and suicide are higher in places that exhibit more economic and social distress," says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.

The Lerner Center and its community partners organized a neighborhood audit of the Wyoming Street corridor in the Near Westside, using a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) expert to speak about ways that the built environment can influence perceptions of safety and deter crime. The information gathered will be used to share conclusions with key stakeholders and address problems in the community.

"Economic decline is certainly an important factor, but our drug, alcohol and suicide problem is also related to social decline," says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion. "We live in an era of individualism, disinvestment in social safety nets, declines in social cohesion, and increased loneliness."