Church-based interventions are culturally acceptable, reduce access barriers, and can be brought to scale in under-resourced communities. For Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) to be efficacious in Black churches, tailoring may be needed. For this audience, standard OEND curricula may need to be adapted to their level of knowledge of substance use disorders (SUDs), and limited general mental health literacy, and specifically address stigma related to SUDs and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). Finally, a tailored implementation strategy may need to address contextual variations (e.g., denomination and membership size) across churches. The proposed pilot study aims to identify the socio-cultural modifications that will be needed to adapt our previously developed training (i.e., COEST) to target Black communities of faith. In a pilot randomized controlled trial (RTC) of adapted COEST in a stepped-wedge design.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
96
Adapted version of our COEST training, targeting Black church members.
New York State Psychiatric Institute
New York, New York, United States
Change in Frequency of Naloxone Utilization/Overdose Intervention
All study participants will receive an overdose response kit containing two doses of intranasal naloxone. Participants are asked to notify study staff immediately if they utilize naloxone in an attempt to reverse an opioid overdose.
Time frame: Baseline and 6 Months after COEST training
Opioid Overdose Knowledge Scale (OOKS)
The OOKS measures knowledge about risk factors for having an opioid overdose, signs of an opioid overdose, actions to be taken in an overdose situation, naloxone effects and administration, adverse effects and aftercare procedures. The scale also identifies misinformation. The OOKS is a 14-item scale (Score Range: 0-45).
Time frame: Baseline and 6 Months after COEST training
Brief Opioid Stigma Scale (BOOS)
The BOSS was developed to assess stereotype awareness ("aware"), stereotype agreement ("agree"), and self-esteem decrement ("harm") surrounding opioid dependence. The BOSS is a 12-item scale (Score Range: 12-60)
Time frame: Baseline and 6 Months after COEST training
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