Renew You, Embrace You: Combating Opioid Overdose through Awareness and Intervention

Background/Purpose: Opioid overdoses remain one of the leading causes of accidental death in the United States. Despite the availability of naloxone, a life-saving medication that can reverse the effects of an overdose, public awareness about its existence and proper use remains low. This gap in knowledge is particularly evident among adolescents, where access to resources and education about substance use and intervention is limited. Adolescents, often experimenting with substances, are at a heightened risk, making it crucial to understand the physiological effects of opioids on the body and how to intervene in an emergency. There remains a considerable gap in the literature regarding the effectiveness of an overdose awareness educational intervention amongst adolescents – a group experiencing significant increases in overdose rates compared to adults. To fill this knowledge gap, this pilot study sought to educate youth on overdose intervention techniques and resources to enhance their preparedness in emergency situations.

Methods: This study was part of a larger project called Renew You, Embrace You – a training initiative designed to address this growing crisis through comprehensive overdose education and awareness campaigns and naloxone training sessions for adolescents. The current sample (N=51) included a Freshman seminar class and were recruited during a Renew You, Embrace You training at a public high school in New Jersey in April, 2024. The current pilot study used a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test survey design. The survey was adapted using Brief Opioid Overdose Knowledge (BOOK) questionnaire and included six true/false questions. These true/false questions focused on domains relevant to opioid overdose knowledge and opioid overdose response knowledge. A paired-samples t-test was conducted to examine mean score changes pre- and post-training.

Results: Overall, 51 pre- and post-surveys were completed by students in a High School Freshman seminar class (Age M=15.4). Post-training feedback demonstrated that 90% (n=45) of participants felt more confident in recognizing an overdose and administering naloxone in an emergency. Total mean scores on the pre-test survey were 37.3 which indicated a moderate understanding of overdose prevention strategies. Total mean scores on the post-test were 48.0, illustrating an average increase of 28.3% and a high understanding of overdose prevention strategies. A paired-samples t-test indicated that there was a significant difference in the pre-test scores (M=37.3) and post-test scores (M=48.0; t(2)=2.37, p = 0.02.

Conclusions/Implications: Increased awareness and accessibility of overdose intervention resources is critical. This pilot study demonstrates preliminary evidence that the Renew You, Embrace You training initiative may be an effective intervention to increase overdose prevention knowledge among adolescents. It is critical that adolescents are educated on substance use and overdose prevention and future research should continue to explore the effectiveness of harm reduction messaging in conjunction with awareness and educational trainings to youth populations.