August 2023

Ben Larsen, Aisha Kayed, Matthew May, Ellen Schafer, Emma Redman, McAllister Hall

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare partnered with IPI to evaluate two health media campaigns that circulated statewide. The first evaluation consisted of a survey of health clinics across Idaho to measure the reach and effectiveness of the Provider Stigma Reduction Campaign. The second evaluation is a survey of Idaho’s general population to measure the reach and effectiveness of the Fentanyl Awareness Campaign. The evaluations will measure the reach and effectiveness of each campaign, as well as general knowledge about the survey topics.

Findings from the Provider Stigma Reduction Campaign are: 

• When asked about the provider awareness campaign’s effectiveness, 55.5% of respondents said the campaign was at least a little effective.
• Respondents overwhelmingly agreed that SUD is a treatable chronic disease and that anyone can develop SUD.
• The provider awareness campaign reached 27.5% of total respondents, including 36.6% of the test group and 20.0% of the control group.
• Online and social media advertisements were the most common places respondents saw the provider awareness campaign materials.

Findings from the Fentanyl Awareness Campaign are:

• Idahoans are largely aware that fentanyl overdose is a critical problem and a majority have knowledge of the drug, but fewer know details about treatments such as naloxone.
• The fentanyl awareness campaign reached approximately 14.0% of Idahoans.
• Respondents who saw the fentanyl awareness campaign materials reported significantly higher rates of seeking information and treatment about substance use.

When asked about the fentanyl awareness campaign’s effectiveness, 73.5% of Idahoans said the campaign was at least a little effective.

McAllister Hall has new publication: A survey of non-USGS continuous streamflow gaging networks in the Pacific Northwest

McAllister Hall, in partnership with Dr. Kendra Kaiser in the Boise State Geoscience department and Dr. Kyle Blasch from U.S. Geological Survey had a technical note published in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association. This was written as a result of a grant Dr. Kaiser wrote IPI into. IPI’s role was to write, distribute, and provide technical support for a survey.

Extensive streamflow data sources exist beyond the largest streamflow data provider in the United States, the U.S. Geological Survey. We developed and distributed a survey to about 300 individuals and organizations that collect streamflow data across the Pacific Northwest (Idaho, Oregon, Washington). We received 100 responses with 56% of those sufficiently complete to include in the analysis. From these responses, there are about 2000 streamflow monitoring locations in the region beyond the USGS monitoring network. The duration of record for gages is related to the size of the streamflow gaging network, with small and large networks generally operating monitoring locations for less than 5 years and more than 10 years, respectively. Quality assurance and quality control are variable across organizations, with 41% of respondents having at least two review steps and 13% that audit their data for long-term consistency. Results of this survey begin to establish the differing capabilities of large and small stream gaging networks and highlight how supporting the overall quality streamflow data collection and management within the water resources community will improve our ability to harmonize these datasets in the future.

You can read the publication here.

On-Campus Job Fair

In August, Boise State held its annual on-campus job fair for students. IPI participated for the first time in efforts to recruit students to participate in paid internship opportunities at the institute