- Substance Use Prevention -

Our substance use prevention programs implement evidence-based strategies in the community to prevent use of all substances.

Tobacco Prevention

Wells County District Health Unit’s Tobacco Prevention and Control program follows The Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Best Practices for comprehensive tobacco control programs.

Our focus is:

• Preventing initiation among youth and young adults.
• Promoting quitting among adults and youth by utilizing treatment resources such as This is Quitting and NDQuits.
• Eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke.

State Opioid Response Grant:

Our focus is:

• Increase screening for opioid dependency and misuse before dispensing.
• Increase access to Narcan.
• Provide education on safe storage and disposal of medication and the potential harms/risks associated with opioids.
• Enhance community engagement through building and maintaining a community coalition focused on community health and wellness including decreasing opioid related deaths.

Naloxone (Narcan) is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. It is an opioid antagonist. This means that it attaches to opioid receptors and reverses and blocks the effects of other opioids. Naloxone can quickly restore normal breathing to a person if their breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose.

Watch a brief training on how to administer Narcan here.

For a free two dose box of Narcan, stop by either Wells County District Health Unit office location or order online.

Safe Medication Disposal

To safely dispose of unused or expired medications, utilize either of the Take Back locations in Wells County at either Service Drug and Gift in Harvey or at the Wells County Sherrif’s Office located in the Wells County Courthouse.

To safely dispose of medication at home, Wells County District Health Unit provides DisposeRX packets or Deterra bags at no charge upon request. These products deactivate the medication when used with water and allow for proper disposal in the trash further decreasing the risk of prescription misuse.

Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, & Recovery Services Grant

Our focus is to support community level evidence-based substance use prevention implementation by increasing capacity for implementing and sustaining prevention in public health and the communities we serve while making positive change in data-driven priority areas with our main focus being underage drinking. A large focus of this grant includes partnering with school districts, youth organizations, implementing curriculums in health classes and working collaboratively with law enforcement and retailers to prevent underage drinking.