Purpose: North Philadelphia is disproportionately affected by opioid use disorder and related deaths. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a community-centered opioid harm reduction education program for pharmacy students.
Methods:This is a prospective, quasi-experimental, pilot study evaluating outcomes of the Naloxone Access and Medication Education (NAME) Initiative. The study was conducted at a single ACPE-accredited school of pharmacy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The program consisted of a two-hour training course followed by a two-hour community outreach Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE). Students completed pre- and post-surveys to assess their knowledge of opioid overdose recognition and response using the validated Opioid Overdose Knowledge Scale (OOKS) and confidence to engage meaningfully in community service using the validated Community Service Self-Efficacy Scale (CSSES). The primary endpoint was the change in OOKS scores pre- and post- didactic training. The secondary endpoint was the change in CSSES scores from pre- to post-IPPE. Pre- and post-survey data were analyzed using paired t-tests.
Results:A statistically significant improvement of 0.91 points (SD ± 3.0) was seen in OOKS scores after students received didactic training (p=0.049). Significant improvement was primarily seen in the “Action” domain of the OOKS score (p=0.01). Seventy percent (31/44 students) completed the post-CSSES. Of those completed the survey, an improvement of 3.5 points (SD± 8.4) was observed; however, this was not statistically significant (p=0.053).
Conclusions:Utilization of a didactic training program followed by a community outreach IPPE led to improvement in pharmacy student knowledge of opioid harm reduction and management
and may increase perceived self-efficacy with educating community members.
