The Colorado State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) is a network of state agencies and data experts brought togetherto examine the patterns, context, and impact of substance use. The Colorado SEOW is associated with the Attorney General’s Office as the data committee for the Substance
Abuse Trend and Response Task Force. This unique relationship allows the SEOW to provide key leaders and legislators with information on substance use trends and to help inform the allocation of resources.
Upcoming Meetings
The SEOW meets every other month on the
third Thursday from 9-11 a.m.Remote connection available. Future dates and presenters include the following:
July 16, 2020 - Equity in Data
September 17, 2020 - TBD
November 19, 2020 - TBD
For more information on meeting locations and remote access, visit our website.
Ways To Get Involved
Interested in contributing your perspective and expertise to further impact substance use efforts?
Attend an upcoming monthly meeting in person or virtually;
Present data or data products at a monthly meeting;
Share our newsletter with others in your network; and,
The Colorado SEOW has a new website (www.coloradoseow.org) containing information on the SEOW goals, workgroups, products, and meeting information.
The SEOW will meet every other month for a total of six meetings per year. Due to COVID-19, the SEOW will conduct meetings virtually until further notice. Three of the SEOW meetings will feature data presentations on new data sources or products. At the other three meetings, each member will share data on a specific topic.
For the July meeting we
will discuss equity in substance use and have asked members to share one to two relevant data points on the topic. The SEOW will discuss patterns and trends across partner data and decide whether to create a topical brief.
The SEOW hopes providing members opportunities to share their data will support better products, increase member engagement, and encourage learning and networking. If you are interested in presenting or have an idea for a data topic, please contact us.
Steering Committee (SC) Update: The SC creates agendas, discusses strategic direction, and reviews progress on the SEOW’s goals. The SC decided for our next meeting (July 16, 2020) to discuss equity in data given recent events
regarding racism and equity in the United States.
The SC decided to create a short brief on the impacts of COVID-19 and substance use in Colorado. The brief is intended for substance use professionals and policy makers to provide important context around substance use patterns and trends. This brief will be published in the coming months.
Finally, The Evaluation Center welcomed its newest member to the team - Aracely Navarro. Aracely will serve as the SEOW Coordinator.
Alcohol Policy Workgroup Update: This workgroup was formed to research evidence-based policies to reduce excessive drinking in Colorado. In the coming months the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will be matched with a Council of State and Territorial Epidemiology (CSTE) fellow. Julia Stullken will serve as the fellow for the next two years and will begin in August. For more information regarding this workgroup, please contact Kacy Crawford, alcohol epidemiologist at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Data Brief Workgroup Update: This workgroup was recently formed to develop short, topical briefs on issues and events that are timely and relevant to policy makers and substance use professionals in Colorado. The workgroup aims to produce three topical briefs each year and is currently developing a brief on Co-Occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders. We aim to finalize the brief in July. For more information and access to previous briefs, click here.
Epi Profile Workgroup Update:
In 2018 the Colorado SEOW collaborated with The Evaluation Center and Zeto Creative to produce the SEOW’sfirst state epidemiological substance use profiles. The SEOW focused on alcohol, marijuana, and opioids. The profiles were short, highly visual, and easily interpretable to a wide audience. The SEOW plans to continue publishing this product biannually.
For the 2020 profiles we are seeking one to two people to support the development of the epi profiles. This work will begin in July and conclude in November. The members should expect to contribute approximately 4-6 hours per month.The workgroup will advise and support The Evaluation Center through:
Attending workgroup meetings;
Brainstorming and discussing profile
content;
Advising on available data sources and data interpretation; and
Reviewing and revising drafts.
If you would like to join this group please contact Haley Sammen.
Training Workgroup Update: This workgroup was formed to address data access and usage needs identified by local public health departments. The group developed a data literacy manual to build the capacity of local public health professionals to find, request, and assess the quality of secondary data. The contents of the manual are
being transformed into online learning modules through support from the Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center.
The online modules and accompanying PDFs will be completed by the end of September. The group had planned to present the manual at Colorado Public Health Association’s 2020 Culture of Data Conference and the 2020 Shared Risk and Protective Factors Conference. However, due to cancellations because of COVID-19, the group plans to present at the 2020 Public Health in the Rockies in August.
Additional Reports and Resources
Please find below additional resources on the impacts of COVID-19 on substance use, as well as resources on equity and data.
Anti-Racism Training
"Whether you are a social service or mental health professional pursuing a unique and impactful continuing education experience, or a community member, this virtual training experience will challenge you, and expose you to knowledge and skills to gain better understanding of racial justice and allyship. This is a virtual training, with modules (2 hours of content in each module). The training is designed for participants to be able to take breaks as they need to."
CDC's Report on COVID-19's Impact on Emergency Department Visits
Emergency department visits are often used by substance use professionals as a variable to study substance abuse, because of this it is important to know how emergency department visits have changed due to COVID-19.
