Opioid Epidemic Response

Opioid Epidemic: How Funeral Directors Can Respond Booklet

Are you aware that opiate residue the size of a grain of salt can kill a member of your prep room staff? Could you spot a funeral home guest about to go into a drug overdose coma? Is your staff trained to use NARCAN®? If you're like most funeral professionals, you answered no to those questions. This 44-page booklet entitled Opioid Epidemic: How Funeral Directors Can Respond gives you and your staff information to help prepare for the devastating results of opioid addiction in your community and in your funeral home.

Download on Amazon Kindle for $4.99. The booklet is only available on Kindle at this time. Call 800-637-8030 for more information. 


  Opioid Epidemic: How Communities Can Respond  Booklet 

Written for members of the public, Opioid Epidemic: How Communities Can Respond addresses the growing opioid epidemic from the perspective of funeral professionals who have seen the devastating impact that addiction has on families. As the issue threatens to overload many municipal and social service agencies, this community-wide problem will eventually touch everyone’s life in some way.

The easy-to-read 44-page booklet offers information and tips on understanding opioid addiction and how it differs from other addictions; the challenges families face as loved ones struggle with opioid addiction and the complicated grief they often experience when loved ones lose their struggle; responses families can choose including funeral planning in cases where their loved ones die from overdoses; and ways that community members can work together to address this growing epidemic.

Download on Amazon Kindle for $4.99. The booklet is only available on Kindle at this time. Call 800-637-8030 for more information.


How Communities Can Respond  Presentation

OGR members have exclusive access to a presentation that addresses the impact of opioid addiction from a funeral director’s perspective— often among the first to witness the devastation it has on families. The program provides hard-hitting facts and suggests actions people can take to help both individuals and their communities.

The PowerPoint slides are accompanied by a suggested script, or members may tell the story in their own words. Topics include the following:

  • Statistics that show the dramatic growth in opioid use and overdose deaths
  • Differences between opioid addiction and other addictions
  • Safety threats to people close to opioid users
  • Special characteristics of grief that survivors often experience after losing loved ones to opioid overdoses
  • Suggestions for actions people can take to make a difference among individuals and in their communities

The presentation is free for members (The presentation is not available to non-members).

Call 800-637-8030 for more information.