News Releases

The Center’s Top 5 Most Impactful Headlines of 2023

From opioid crisis news to the creation of the Social Determinants of Health Innovation Hub, the Weekly Wrap Up this year covered an expansive scope of content. Let’s look back on 2023 and reminisce about our top five most important news stories. Based on reader engagement, they are ranked:

1. U.S. Hit by “Fourth Wave” of Opioid Crisis with Rise of Polysubstance Overdoses

Recently published studies have found that the proportion of U.S. overdose deaths involving both fentanyl and stimulants has increased more than 50-fold since 2010, leading to what has been called the “fourth wave” of the opioid crisis. This fourth wave is a significant challenge for healthcare workers as they navigate the difficulties of treating the combination of opioids and stimulants.

2. Utilizing the Healthy NEO Website: Seven Helpful Features for Grant Writers

The Healthy Northeast Ohio website offers a plethora of tools to help grant writers. Launched in 2019, the platform brings non-biased data and local resources to a single location for partners in the Northeast Ohio region. The website features the ability to create custom dashboards to generate data tailored to specific grant proposals — allowing the user to focus on specific data, such as “health/alcohol use” and compare geographic areas across the county and the entire United States.

3. The Center for Health Affairs Convenes Community Leaders to Guide the Social Determinants of Health Innovation Hub

More than 40 community leaders from Northeast Ohio came together for the inaugural meeting of the Social Determinants of Health Innovation Hub Advisory Council. Founded by The Center for Health Affairs and powered by Amazon Web Services, the Innovation Hub is using data-driven insights to make recommendations for legislation, policies and programs that improve the economic, social and physical environment around adults, children and their families who consistently experience health disparities.

4. SDoH Innovation Hub Issues Analysis, Recommends Solutions on Behavioral Health and Gun Violence

The SDoH Innovation Hub completed its first phase of work, providing recommendations for achieving progress on behavioral health and firearm violence. These recommendations span short-term, mid-term and long-term. Data was collected and analyzed from over 50 publicly available sources with findings revealing suicide rates from firearms in Northeast Ohio are 10% above the national average and an increase in suicides among youths as young as 12.

5. Behavioral Health Experts Share Solutions to Pressing Behavioral Health Needs

The Center for Health Affairs convened local experts in behavioral health to discuss not just the challenges, but also some of the solutions to behavioral health needs. The diverse group of panelists brought their unique perspectives and insights to the discussion to address various topics, including the aging population and the corresponding need for geriatric behavioral health services and the growing demand for child and adolescent mental health services.

And that’s a wrap! The team at The Center and the Weekly Wrap Up look forward to serving up pertinent and insightful content to readers in 2024. See you then.