The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is implementing a $40.8 million statewide opioid overdose prevention and education media program. The program includes media and public awareness campaigns and a robust evaluation to monitor the success of the campaigns in increasing public awareness and supporting behavior change. The campaign has three primary aims and audiences:
- To prevent substance use and raise awareness of fentanyl contamination among youth and young adults (ages 16-21).
- To prevent overdose and overdose death among young adults using a harm reduction lens (ages 20-35)
- To raise awareness among families and communities, empowering them to respond to the overdose epidemic with life-saving solutions and strategies.
CDPH has selected a media agency partner, Duncan Channon, Inc., to support the media campaigns. The contract period is March 1, 2023 – June 30, 2025. Given the urgency of the overdose crisis, CDPH and Duncan Channon launched initial messages in May 2023, with a full media campaign launched in Fall 2023. The campaign engages local communities to amplify core campaign messages; provide communities, families, and mentors with the information they need to support youth; and to lift up local personal success stories.
This project receives funding from Opioid Settlement Funds (OSF) through California’s Opioid Settlements.