Changing student attitudes and perceptions toward opioid use disorder.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy education
• Addiction medicine
• Public health

Background:

• The opioid epidemic necessitates healthcare professionals, particularly pharmacists, to effectively support patients recovering from opioid use disorder (OUD).
• Pharmacists require specialized knowledge and unbiased attitudes to serve this patient population adequately.
• Current pharmacy curricula may lack comprehensive education on substance use disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of an intensive educational summit on pharmacy students' knowledge and stigma related to opioid use disorder (OUD).
• To determine if enhanced education can improve pharmacy students' perceptions and reduce stigmatization of patients with OUD.

Main Methods:

• An educational summit was conducted for pharmacy students at Drake University, featuring didactic and panel presentations on opioid pharmacology, OUD, and treatment.
• A 5-point Likert scale survey was administered before and after the summit to measure changes in students' perceived knowledge and stigma.
• Attitudes toward 10 statements related to OUD were assessed using pre- and post-intervention surveys.

Main Results:

• A statistically significant increase in total knowledge scores was observed (change of 3.1, P < .0001).
• A statistically significant decrease in total stigma scores was recorded (change of 1.4, P = .0198).
• The results indicate improved understanding and reduced negative perceptions among students following the educational intervention.

Conclusions:

• Targeted educational interventions, such as the summit, can effectively enhance pharmacy students' knowledge of OUD.
• Increased knowledge about OUD and its treatment is associated with a significant reduction in stigma among future pharmacists.
• Comprehensive OUD education is crucial for preparing pharmacists to provide unbiased and effective care to patients in recovery.