Abstract
Opioid abuse among teens is a very serious problem which requires further attention and action at the national and local levels. The severity of this problem can contribute to the risk of addiction and overdose, thereby leading to many deaths. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate this issue in greater detail and to recognize the importance of implementing educational tools in high schools which can have the desired impact on teens and reduce their risk of using opioids, either via legal or illegal means. This problem must be addressed with education to provide greater awareness to teens and to promote an environment in which teens can understand how this problem can dramatically affect their lives and even lead to premature deaths by overdose. An educational program for high school students is necessary to demonstrate the importance of accomplishing specific goals and objectives to prevent teen opioid abuse and to improve health outcomes for this population group.
Healthcare Policy Concern – Prescription Drug Overdose
Overview of Healthcare Policy
Healthcare policies offer important insights and information regarding a variety of issues which impact public health and which influence outcomes for patients. In this capacity, different public health concerns requires significant attention and focus to ensure that all possible options can be conducted to facilitate outcomes and to create an environment in which change and progress can occur effectively to improve the health and wellbeing of different population groups. This process requires an examination of effective methods to educate individuals and to provide the resources required to make informed decisions regarding the practice setting which will have a positive and lasting impact on their health. Nurses play a critical role in these processes and provide opportunities to educate the public regarding issues of importance to their health within their communities. Therefore, healthcare advocacy is critical to this process and requires an effective understanding of the key factors which impact the practice setting and the patients who are seen on a regular basis. Recognizing serious health concerns is a critical priority of nurses and supports advocacy efforts which can have a positive and lasting impact on communities in different ways. In addition, the advanced practice nurse utilizes his or her knowledge in different ways to identify areas of concern for patients, to optimize health, and to support the development of practice models to advocate for patient healthcare needs by minimizing disparities and other concerns whenever possible. These tools are critical to the practice setting and provide a framework for advancing key priorities and needs for patients.
Selected Healthcare Policy Concern
There are significant risks associated with the use of prescription drugs, and specifically, the use of opioids to relieve pain. There are differences in usage rates based upon location, as some rural communities often experience higher rates of opioid use and addiction than in urban communities; therefore, it is important to identify these differences when developing different educational programs to accommodate teenagers (Monnat & Rigg, 2016). These drugs pose a high risk of addiction and potential overdose for many patients. There are several key contributing factors to this problem which include overprescribing patterns by physicians, poor monitoring of patients after prescribing these medications, stress and anxiety, and other factors which contribute to a high risk of addiction and overdose in some patients. It is possible that some patients are at risk of addiction based upon genetic makeup, but others may be at risk due to poor outcomes related to excessive prescribing methods and easy access to these medications on a regular basis. Therefore, a policy change must be established which can expand education for patients and others who may have a need for opioids in the future to ensure that they have the knowledge and resources necessary to ensure that they can prevent addiction and be mindful of the serious complications which can occur related to the use of opioids.
The implementation of a classroom-based opioid prevention course for high school students will be established in local school districts to provide knowledge regarding the dangers of opioid use and abuse among teens and adults. The target population is high school students because they are a highly vulnerable group which can be influenced by different types of behaviors and activities, including the use of different types of drugs, including opioids. They are a strong audience for which this type of educational program may shed some light on the difficulties related to stress, anxiety, and peer pressure which may impact high school students and create challenging circumstances whereby opioids may be an attractive option. Nurses will play a critical role in this process by administering the educational program and ensuring that students have the knowledge regarding opioids that is required to promote prevention.
Among high school students, 4.2 percent of this population misused pain medications in 2017, and 4,235 teens and adults between the ages of 15-24 died from drug overdoses in 2015, of which half were from opioid abuse (Department of Health and Human Services, 2017). Specifically, it is known that “Between 1999 and 2006, the annual death rate for fatal overdoses of opioids for individuals aged 15 to 24 rose 440%, from 0.7 per 100,000 to 3.8 per 100,000” (Edlund et al., 2015, p. 131). Due to the consistent risk attributed to opioid abuse and overdose among teens, it is necessary to provide educational platforms for high school students which can strengthen their knowledge and understanding of opioids and the risk of addiction to these drugs which could lead to overdoses and even fatalities in some cases. When teens die as a result of an opioid-induced drug overdose, this not only devastates his or her family, but also the surrounding community because of the shock and lack of comprehension of the severity and high risk of addiction among people who use opioids. Although access to these drugs appears to be getting more difficult in some communities, it remains a serious problem when they can be accessed via back channels and can cause harm for teens in unanticipated ways. This poses a serious problem in communities where there are limited resources to fight opioid abuse and addiction and where health disparities exist which can negatively impact individuals across different age groups.
Youth can serve as a key driving force in understanding the risks associated with opioid abuse because when they observe addiction firsthand and lose friends or family members due to overdose, it is a wakeup call on many levels and creates different opportunities for youth to share their experiences with others with the intent to warn them of the risks and dangers of opioid abuse, along with recognizing the value of understanding how opioids can destroy families, friendships, and lives. Opioid abuse among teens and the risk of overdose are serious public health concerns which require expanded education and oversight to prevent future incidents. Therefore, an educational strategy to target teens is necessary to ensure that this vulnerable population group understands the risk factors related to opioid use and abuse.
Student-Identified Solution to Healthcare Concern
There is a critical need to educate high school students regarding the risk of opioid use and abuse because of the epidemic nature of this public health problem. It is necessary to demonstrate the risk of opioid abuse among adolescents and how these risk factors are increased in some communities where opioid abuse is more common. An education program which is required for all high school students as part of the annual curriculum will expand knowledge for these students and enable them to better understand the challenges and risks of using opioids. For some students, the use of opioids is via prescription methods, while others access these drugs under other circumstances, thereby posing an even greater risk of danger to patients (Miech, Johnston, O’Malley, Keyes, & Heard, 2015). Under these conditions, it is necessary to demonstrate the importance of strategies which may be useful in addressing the most critical risks related to opioid abuse among teens by emphasizing the prevalence of this and providing examples of its widespread impact on this population group. It is known that “An association between legitimate opioid use before high school completion and an increased risk of subsequent misuse after high school could change the risk/benefit considerations for clinicians who treat pediatric patients with painful conditions” (Miech et al., 2015, p. e2). Under these conditions, it is likely that some teens who might have been prescribed opioids may not receive them after all, but in cases where they can be accessed illegally without an actual prescription, this can be very problematic for teens and cause greater harm and the risk of addiction and overdose. In addition, the educational program must also emphasize the importance of opioids as a gateway to other drugs, such as heroin, which a much stronger and more potent opiate (Cerda, Santaella, Marshall, Kim, & Martins, 2015).
The risk factors associated with opioid use and abuse are critical to the development of an educational program which can target high school students and support knowledge and resources to prevent overdose and other poor outcomes among teens. The likely positive outcome is lower utilization of opioids among teens, along with an understanding of why these medications can cause serious harm to this population group. The school district and the community must support this initiative so that it can be implemented in local high schools, along with understanding the value of education to curb opioid prescribing methods among physicians. These objectives are likely to reduce the economic burden associated with opioid abuse and reduce the number of overdoses among teens (Groenewald, Rabbitts, Gebert, & Palermo, 2016). In addition, this program will enable teens to understand that there are not only physical side effects to opioid use and abuse, but also psychological implications which can contribute to addiction, and other problems; therefore, community and clinical support are essential in reducing this risk and in fostering increased knowledge of opioid abuse that occurs directly within the community (Boyd, Young, & McCabe, 2014). A reduced number of overdoses in the target communities will demonstrate that the initiative has had some impact on teens and create opportunities to expand the program to other areas. Nonetheless, there are potential challenges to consider which impact decision-making among local community members, such as financing the program and gaining the support of parents, both of which can be accomplished through exposure to real-world statistics and needs for this program.
Identification of Elected Official
To promote the potential effectiveness of the program in the community, Senator Rob Portman of Ohio will be presented with the strategy and will have the chance to understand its potential impact and its benefits for teens in some of the local high schools. This individual was selected because he represents Ohio and has a strong track record on opioid abuse, including recent efforts to enact bipartisan legislation to address the opioid epidemic at the state and national levels. His role in the project will be important in bringing greater attention to the issue and why education for teens is critical as part of a larger strategy to reduce opioid use and abuse among teens.
Conclusion
Opioid use and abuse among teens is very high in some communities and can lead to the risk of overdose and death. Therefore, this is a serious public health epidemic which has serious implications for many communities and requires expanded efforts to reduce this problem at the national level. However, on a local scale, there is evidence to support new programmatic efforts which can educate teens in high school and provide greater oversight regarding their use of opioids. An educational program will attract their attention and that of community members to recognize the serious nature of this problem and its impact on individuals, families, and others within the surrounding areas.
References
Boyd, C. J., Young, A., & McCabe, S. E. (2014). Psychological and drug abuse symptoms
associated with nonmedical use of opioid analgesics among adolescents. Substance abuse, 35(3), 284-289.
Cerdá, M., Santaella, J., Marshall, B. D., Kim, J. H., & Martins, S. S. (2015). Nonmedical
prescription opioid use in childhood and early adolescence predicts transitions to heroin use in young adulthood: a national study. The Journal of Pediatrics, 167(3), 605-612.
Department of Health and Human Services (2017). Opioids and adolescents.
Edlund, M. J., Forman-Hoffman, V. L., Winder, C. R., Heller, D. C., Kroutil, L. A., Lipari, R.
N., & Colpe, L. J. (2015). Opioid abuse and depression in adolescents: Results from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Drug & Alcohol Dependence, 152, 131-138.
Groenewald, C. B., Rabbitts, J. A., Gebert, T., & Palermo, T. M. (2016). Trends in opioid
prescriptions among children and adolescents in the United States: A nationally representative study from 1996 to 2012. Pain, 157(5), 1021.
Miech, R., Johnston, L., O’Malley, P. M., Keyes, K. M., & Heard, K. (2015). Prescription
opioids in adolescence and future opioid misuse. Pediatrics, peds-2015.
Monnat, S. M., & Rigg, K. K. (2016). Examining rural/urban differences in prescription opioid
misuse among US adolescents. The Journal of Rural Health, 32(2), 204-218.