FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 25. 2025

Contact: Lisa Batitto, news@drugfreenj.org

Opioid Use Among Older Adults the Focus of Upcoming Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day Learning Series Webinar

MILLBURN –The next webinar in the 2025 Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day Learning Series will focus on opioid use among older adults. This educational event, scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, May 8, is a collaboration between the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ), the Office of Alternative and Community Responses (OACR), and the Opioid Education Foundation of America (OEFA).

The webinar, titled "Opioid Use & Misuse Among Older Adults," will feature Dr. Donna M. Lisi, an independent consultant clinical pharmacist; and Dr. Abhilash Desai, a board-certified geriatric psychiatrist and medical director of Idaho Memory & Aging Center. It will explore the challenges, solutions, and strategies to help older adults navigate opioid use safely. Healthcare providers, caregivers, and community members are encouraged to attend.

The Institute for Public Health and Medicine reported a 16 percent rise in emergency visits due to opioid misuse among older adults from 2021 to 2022. The report notes a key issue in addressing opioid use disorder (OUD) in this group is the lack of screening and awareness. Additionally, many older adults have used opioids for decades, rendering traditional abstinence-based treatments less effective.

"As our population ages, we must confront the growing crisis of opioid use among older adults with urgency and compassion,” said Angelo M. Valente, Executive Director of PDFNJ.

PDFNJ hosts the series in collaboration with OEFA and OACR in an effort to coordinate the law enforcement and public health response to the intersecting public health crises of substance use and mental health, including the work of the Office of the New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies (NJ CARES), across the Department of Law and Public Safety and throughout the state.

The Learning Series has grown each year since it was created in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with attendance reaching 10,000 in 2024. Participants from diverse professional backgrounds, including certified health education specialists, dentists, nurses, nurse practitioners, optometrists, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, psychologists, social workers, EMTs, and athletic trainers earned over 6,000 continuing education credits in 2024.

Participants have learned from experts from a wide range of backgrounds and expertise, including representatives of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the New Jersey Department of Health, the Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as many universities and state and local organizations involved in the fight against the opioid epidemic. Speakers have included New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, former New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Regional Director Dr. Dara Kass and award-winning author Sam Quinones.

In 2024, there were 1,803 suspected overdose deaths in New Jersey, with the majority linked to some form of opioid. The epidemic continues to take its toll through the use of heroin, prescription opioids, and synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

The series is a branch of PDFNJ’s Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day statewide initiative, which has been held annually on October 6 since 2016 to educate residents and prescribers on the risks of prescription opioids and to raise awareness of the opioid crisis throughout the state.

To learn more about Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day and for a schedule of webinars, please visit knockoutday.drugfreenj.org

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Best known for its statewide anti-drug advertising campaign, the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey is a private not-for-profit coalition of professionals from the communications, corporate and government communities whose collective mission is to reduce demand for illicit drugs in New Jersey through media communication. To date, more than $200 million in broadcast time and print space has been donated to the Partnership’s New Jersey campaign, making it the largest public service advertising campaign in New Jersey’s history. Since its inception the Partnership has garnered 230 advertising and public relations awards from national, regional and statewide media organizations.