Toledo Naloxone Outreach Program: Patient and Health Care Professional Student Education

Abstract

Background: In 2016, Ohio was home to 2 of the top 10 cities with opioid overdoses in the United States. Dayton ranked first, and Toledo held the tenth slot. In response to the opioid epidemic, the Toledo Naloxone Outreach Program (TNOP) was developed to provide naloxone to underserved patients at a student-run free clinic.Methods: The TNOP takes place weekly at 2 locations in the greater Toledo area. Patients are asked to fill out an anonymous survey and given a brief training session by a health care professional student. Patients are then sent home with a free naloxone kit. Additionally, health care professional students were surveyed on their confidence of acquiring a substance use history and knowledge of local services for patients and family members of those experiencing addiction during the "train the trainer" event. The health care professional student survey utilized a 1-5 Likert scale and was analyzed using paired student t tests.Results: Survey results from patients indicate that a majority had not received nalox one prior to the training, indicating the service was expanding access to an otherwise underserved population. Results from the survey administered before and after health care professional student training sessions reflect a significant increase in confidence eliciting a substance abuse history and providing patients and/or family members with addiction resources in the community.Conclusion: The TNOP has provided the community of Toledo with 2 additional outreach locations for receiving free naloxone kits with proper education. Currently, TNOP is in the process of expanding the outreach program to additional student-run free clinics in Ohio.