Development of a health communication campaign to promote the Texas prescription monitoring program.

Given the role opioid overprescribing has played in the current overdose crisis, reducing the supply of prescription opioids available for misuse has gained widespread support. Prescription monitoring programs (PMPs) have been identified as a tool for achieving this goal, but little is known about how to promote PMP use to prescribers. This paper describes the process of developing a health communication campaign to support the adoption of the Texas PMP. After formative research, message development and concept testing, a range of campaign concepts and messages were tested and final recommendations determined. The messages and lessons learned have utility beyond Texas.

Implementation of a collaborative model for opioid overdose prevention on campus.

Drug overdose is the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50, a crisis that is driven by an increasingly potent supply of illicit opioids. College-aged adults are more likely than any other age group to engage in opioid misuse. Naloxone, the antidote for an opioid overdose, can save the life of an opioid overdose victim if it is readily available and administered quickly. The University of Texas at Austin implemented a collaborative model for proactive opioid overdose prevention in 2016. This model includes stocking naloxone in residence halls and providing it to police officers, training resident advisors and police officers to respond to suspected overdoses, and engaging student pharmacists in a service learning program to increase naloxone access and awareness among university students. Programmatic experiences and key recommendations for U.S. campuses are shared by faculty, student, and community leaders.

Evidence for Site-Specific, Systematic Adaptation of Substance Prevention Curriculum With High Risk Youth in Community and Alternative School Settings.

The problem of substance use among older youth is of great concern, but has received little attention in prevention research. This may be due to the perception that prevention programming is developmentally inappropriate for older youth who are actively experimenting with substances. This project examined the differential effectiveness of youth-driven adaptations of the evidence-based prevention program, keepin' it REAL (KiR). The participating sites included a juvenile justice day program, a homeless shelter, four alternative high schools, low-income housing programs, an LGBTQ youth center, and a youth group on the Texas-Mexico border. In the project's first phase, high risk youth in community settings tailored KiR workbooks and videos to increase the relevance for their peers, older adolescents who are likely to have already initiated drug use. The second phase of the study, discussed here in detail, evaluates the effectiveness of the adapted versions of KiR compared with the original version and a comparison condition. The study employed a quasi-experimental pretest posttest design with a 6-week follow-up. Youth also participated in focus groups. Both qualitative and quantitative data suggest that participants receiving the adapted version of the curriculum experienced greater improvement in acceptance and use of substances than youth in the other two groups.

The Effectiveness of Adapted Versions of an Evidence-based Prevention Program in Reducing Alcohol Use among Alternative School Students.

Although there is a strong evidence base for effective substance abuse prevention programs for youth, there is a need to facilitate the implementation and evaluation of these programs in real world settings. This study evaluates the effectiveness of adapted versions of an evidence-based prevention program, keepin' it REAL (kiR), with alternative school students. Programs are often adapted when used in schools and other community settings for a variety of reasons. The kiR adaptations, developed during an earlier phase of this study, were created to make the curriculum more appropriate for alternative high school youth. The adaptations were evaluated using a quasi-experimental design in which questionnaires were administered at pretest, posttest, and follow-up, and focus groups were conducted at posttest. MANOVA analyses indicate significantly reduced intentions to accept alcohol and, for younger participants, reduced alcohol use. Focus group data support the need for age appropriate prevention content. The authors discuss implications for practitioners implementing prevention programs in schools.

Issues and challenges in the design of culturally adapted evidence-based interventions.

This article examines issues and challenges in the design of cultural adaptations that are developed from an original evidence-based intervention (EBI). Recently emerging multistep frameworks or stage models are examined, as these can systematically guide the development of culturally adapted EBIs. Critical issues are also presented regarding whether and how such adaptations may be conducted, and empirical evidence is presented regarding the effectiveness of such cultural adaptations. Recent evidence suggests that these cultural adaptations are effective when applied with certain subcultural groups, although they are less effective when applied with other subcultural groups. Generally, current evidence regarding the effectiveness of cultural adaptations is promising but mixed. Further research is needed to obtain more definitive conclusions regarding the efficacy and effectiveness of culturally adapted EBIs. Directions for future research and recommendations are presented to guide the development of a new generation of culturally adapted EBIs.

Methodology for Evaluating an Adaptation of Evidence-Based Drug Abuse Prevention in Alternative Schools.

The purpose of this article is to set forth an innovative methodological protocol for culturally grounding interventions with high risk youth in alternative schools. This study utilized mixed methods to evaluate original and adapted versions of a culturally grounded substance abuse prevention program. The qualitative and quantitative methods concurrently explore behaviors around drugs and alcohol, contextual variables for youth substance abuse and related factors, cultural perspectives regarding drug-related attitudes and behaviors, and the complex reasons behind students' substance use choices. While questionnaires are utilized to note demographics, cultural and acculturative variables, drug use, drug and alcohol attitudes and expectancies, and school culture variables, focus groups capture the voices of the students and staff and trends that cannot be fully understood via questionnaires. In this study, focus groups aid in the understanding of student drug and alcohol choices, attitudes and behaviors and help the researchers hone in on questions and necessary changes to future research procedures.