Harlan County: Assessment and Diagnosis
Savanna Wynn
NR443- Community Health Nursing
March 29, 2014
Professor Hoenig

“Doctors and drug companies feed the people of Harlan County drugs just like giving a baby candy. The drug problem in Harlan is so bad that the community lives in fear of what the drug addict is capable of doing. “You never know who is on drugs…people drooling…people taking from their parents and children, it’s awful” (Van Gundy, 2006, p. 22). In my community of Harlan, Kentucky where prescription drug abuse is running rampant, in what once was a safe community, people that once left their doors unlocked now lock up everything they own. Richard Clayton, an addiction expert at the University of Kentucky’s Center for Prevention Research reported to the Lexington newspaper, “This may be the first epidemic—if it is an epidemic—that started in rural areas” (Van Gundy, 2006, p. 22). People from many walks of life have struggles with addiction but in my small county it has taken over their lives, controlling their every move. Teenagers complain because there is nothing for them to do in this county, leading them to experiment with drugs. Coal miners complain of pain from working long hours in terrible conditions, leading them to self-medicate to alleviate the pain. There are many factors in my community that play such a huge role in the abuse of prescription drugs, pinpointing the problems and exposing them is what is needed to be done to help extinguish the problem. Harlan County, Kentucky is the most aesthetically pleasing place in the summer! There is nothing as beautiful as the mountains when their foliage is green and full. There is a feeling of security from the harshness of the world. The people here are the real salt of the earth and southern hospitality rings true. Coal mining runs in people’s blood and has been the main source