Increasing Naloxone Access for Persons Who Use Opioids

Overview

Deaths relating to opioid overdose have rapidly increased over the past two decades. Due to the serious public health concern of the opioid epidemic, federal agencies recommend employing various harm reduction interventions. The implementation of Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) programs is effective in reducing opioid overdose mortality, yet these programs do not reach many high-risk individuals. Traditionally, OEND program venues are found in large, urban medical centers, drug treatment facilities, and needle exchange programs. Identifying unreached, high-risk individuals and providing training and naloxone kits through online recruitment could significantly expand access to this life-saving intervention. The primary goal of the current proposed project is to examine the acceptability and feasibility of online recruitment, online opioid overdose and naloxone administration education, and postal distribution of naloxone kits.

Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, with over 65% of drug related fatalities resulting from the use of opioids. The continually increasing rates of opioid overdose deaths in the last two decades have led to the declaration of an opioid epidemic. Over a brief 15-year period, from 1999-2014, drug overdose related deaths tripled and rates have continued to sharply escalate since then. Federal agencies have responded to this crisis with various recommendations including enhancing harm reduction approaches such as naloxone distribution. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that can be used to reverse opioid overdose. Though it is typically administered in Emergency Departments, laypersons have recently been successfully trained through Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) programs to recognize signs of opioid overdose and perform timely administration of naloxone in homes and community settings while awaiting medical services. Several studies have demonstrated that OEND programs effectively reduce opioid overdose mortality and are safe and cost-effective. However, OEND programs are typically implemented in urban areas as part of large medical center research programs, needle exchanges, or drug treatment programs. Individuals living in areas without these programs or services lack access to critical and life-saving OEND. The current proposal will examine the acceptability and feasibility of online recruitment, online opioid overdose education, and postal distribution of naloxone kits (N=80). Opioid users at risk for overdose will be recruited online through Craigslist. If eligible, participants will complete an opioid use questionnaire and will indicate if they are interested in receiving opioid overdose and naloxone administration training. If interested, they will complete pre- and post-intervention knowledge questionnaires, engage in audiovisual training, and half will be randomized to receive a naloxone kit in the mail while the other half will be given information on where they can receive a naloxone kit. All participants will complete remote follow-up assessments at 1, 2, and 3 months post study to evaluate naloxone kit use and outcomes. This study will evaluate a novel approach to providing OEND to individuals with otherwise limited access to this type of intervention. Successful implementation of remote OEND through this project would support future employment of similar remote programs to expand this critical harm reduction strategy to high-risk individuals in areas lacking traditional OEND programs.