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The Delaware County Health Department (DCHD) was less than 2 years old when it devised a plan to design and implement a drug misuse prevention program that would quickly raise awareness and connect the community with evidence-based resources.
In just four months, the DCHD launched an innovative Household Mailing Program to get custom resources and the Deterra® Drug Deactivation and Disposal System directly to 165,289 households —enough to deactivate nearly 7.5 million unwanted pills.
Through a household mailing program, Deterra Direct Medium Pouches and custom educational postcards are mailed directly to households via the United States Postal Service (USPS). The pouches, which are designed for efficient mailing, help residents safely deactivate and dispose of unwanted, unused and expired drugs to prevent misuse and environmental harm.
“The mailing is a way for us to engage with residents in a direct, tangible way,” says DCHD spokesperson Matt Rankin. “It was easy to implement, and we were able to turn it around quickly, with just 16 weeks from county council approval to program launch.”
The program was funded with part of the $63 million the county will receive from a $26 billion multi-state opioid settlement.
“This program allows us to meet multiple goals with this first installment of the settlement funds,” says DCHD Health Department Director Lora Werner. “It meets an immediate need to safely dispose of unwanted drugs and serves our larger strategy of attacking the opioid crisis from all angles, including reducing stigma and preventing misuse before it starts.”
Delaware County’s household mailing program is one of the first of its kind in Pennsylvania and one of only a few nationally. The unique approach helps raise awareness and put essential prevention resources into the hands of those who need them quickly and efficiently.
“It’s an imposing task to design projects for this settlement funding,” says Rankin. “What’s so appealing about this project is it’s ready to go and easy to roll out. The mailing program lets us promote prevention and get unused drugs out of home medicine cabinets at the same time.”
The DCHD worked with Deterra to create custom postcards with prevention tips and information about local resources. A QR code on the postcard links to a short online survey to help measure the program’s impact on drug disposal behavior. The postcards are adhered to the Deterra Pouches and mailed directly to homes, so there’s no need for department staff to manage mailing or storage.
In December 2023, a mailing went out to about 70% of all residential addresses in Delaware County.
Survey responses collected so far show 90% of respondents agree the Deterra Pouch is easy to use and one-half say the program prompted them to clean out their medicine cabinet.
“Prevention helps everybody, but it’s the hardest to show impact,” says Werner. “This program is not a cure-all, but it is an essential piece of a complex problem. The pouches are helping quickly raise awareness and reduce the availability of drugs that directly feed into the opioid epidemic.”
“It’s a cost-effective way to reach a large number of people,” Rankin adds. “We hope the program inspires other counties as a model for how to get opioids out of homes and connect residents with county resources.”
Visit DeterraSystem.com/government to explore how other organizations are using Deterra or reach out to (612) 568-1128 or Sales@DeterraSystem.com to discuss how to implement at-home drug disposal initiatives in your community.
