Halmo Rebekah S, Sellers Christina M, Collin Cali-Ryan R, Chinamasa Gordon, Putney Jennifer M
School of Social Work, Simmons University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Subst Abus. 2022;43(1):289-293. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2021.1941511. Epub 2021 Jul 2.
Opioid use disorders are widespread, commonly occurring, and have serious impacts on individuals, families, and communities. When adequately trained, social workers play a pivotal role in treating populations impacted by opioid use through the provision of high-quality services and the shifting of negative attitudes related to opioid use. However, workforce projections indicate a growing shortage of behavioral health professionals qualified to work with such populations and, presently, social work programs are not equipped to meet these workforce needs. Emerging evidence suggests opioid overdose education is associated with improved attitudes and knowledge among health professions; however, less information exists on the outcomes of such training among social work students. Schools of social work must develop and evaluate curricular components related to opioid use prevention and management to adequately prepare students for clinical work as social work practitioners. Thirty-three advanced-year MSW students received opioid overdose training as part of a day-long seminar on substance use. Content included acute effects of opioids, withdrawal symptoms, risk factors, signs of overdose, naloxone training, and harm reduction principles. Using a single-group pretest-posttest design, students completed the Opioid Overdose Attitudes Scale (OOAS) and the Opioid Overdose Knowledge Scale (OOKS). To evaluate students' attitudes and knowledge, investigators compared overall and subscale means before and after the training via paired samples -tests. Findings indicated statistically significant improvements in the "concerns" and "competence" domains of the OOAS. Likewise, findings indicated statistically significant improvements in the "risk," "signs," "action," and "naloxone use" domains of the OOKS. Students reported improved opioid overdose-related knowledge and attitudes when assessed after the training as compared to before the training. Due to the nature of the study design, causality cannot be inferred from the training outcomes. Findings may help other social work programs develop curricular components related to opioid use.
阿片类药物使用障碍普遍存在且常见，对个人、家庭和社区都有严重影响。经过充分培训后，社会工作者在治疗受阿片类药物使用影响的人群方面发挥着关键作用，他们通过提供高质量服务以及转变与阿片类药物使用相关的负面态度来实现这一点。然而，劳动力预测表明，有资格与这类人群合作的行为健康专业人员短缺情况日益严重，目前，社会工作项目无法满足这些劳动力需求。新出现的证据表明，阿片类药物过量教育与卫生专业人员态度和知识的改善有关；然而，关于社会工作专业学生接受此类培训的成果的信息较少。社会工作学院必须开发和评估与阿片类药物使用预防和管理相关的课程内容，以便让学生充分准备好成为社会工作从业者开展临床工作。33名高级MSW学生接受了阿片类药物过量培训，这是为期一天的物质使用研讨会的一部分。内容包括阿片类药物的急性影响、戒断症状、风险因素、过量迹象、纳洛酮培训以及减少伤害原则。采用单组前测-后测设计，学生们完成了阿片类药物过量态度量表（OOAS）和阿片类药物过量知识量表（OOKS）。为了评估学生的态度和知识，研究人员通过配对样本t检验比较了培训前后的总体均值和子量表均值。结果表明，OOAS的“担忧”和“能力”领域有统计学上的显著改善。同样，结果表明，OOKS的“风险”、“迹象”、“行动”和“纳洛酮使用”领域有统计学上的显著改善。与培训前相比，学生在培训后接受评估时报告称，与阿片类药物过量相关的知识和态度有所改善。由于研究设计的性质，无法从培训结果中推断因果关系。研究结果可能有助于其他社会工作项目开发与阿片类药物使用相关的课程内容。
