Abraham Olufunmilola, McCarthy Tyler J
University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Innov Pharm. 2023 Nov 9;14(3). doi: 10.24926/iip.v14i3.5678. eCollection 2023.
As the opioid epidemic unrelentingly places profound weight on pharmacists, youth, parents, and the nation at large, innovative interventions are critical to prevent potential misuse and untimely death. Adolescents are especially vulnerable to misuse behaviors due to knowledge, attitudinal, and social influences. To best resonate with adolescents, appropriate tools and technologies must be developed and deployed. Few educational tools are more ubiquitous to adolescents than video games. Video games, specifically serious games, have the potential to connect with adolescents and impart critical knowledge related to opioid safety. Engaging youth, parents, and pharmacists in the design, refinement, and evaluation of a serious game is novel and necessary for building a robust, efficacious game. This commentary describes the conceptualization, inception, development, and evaluation of a novel opioid medication safety intervention, MedSMA℞T Families. This two-part intervention is comprised of an adolescent-tailored serious game entitled MedSMA℞T: Adventures in PharmaCity, and a family-focused tool named the personalized Family Medication Safety Plan. This intervention is the first theory-based, family-focused opioid medication safety toolkit co-designed by an interdisciplinary team of researchers, game developers, behavioral health scientists, pharmacists, student pharmacists, addiction medicine physician, adolescent health physician, parents, and teens. Responses from key stakeholders (pharmacists, parents, and teens) have demonstrated positive attitudes and impressions towards both components of the MedSMA℞T Families intervention. Empirical evidence of efficacy from two separate studies denotes improvement in key concepts related to safe behavior in adolescents. Findings to date support the widespread use, implementation, and dissemination of this efficacious intervention to supporting safe opioid prescription practices in families with adolescents. In this paper, we outline and summarize our process of intervention development and use of longitudinal data to validate each step of our process. Future directions include mobile compatibility, refinement based on key stakeholder feedback, and dissemination in various clinical settings where opioid medications are prescribed and dispensed such as emergency departments, pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics.
由于阿片类药物流行持续给药剂师、青少年、家长以及整个国家带来沉重负担，创新干预措施对于预防潜在的药物滥用和过早死亡至关重要。青少年由于知识、态度和社会影响，尤其容易出现药物滥用行为。为了更好地与青少年产生共鸣，必须开发和应用合适的工具和技术。对于青少年来说，很少有教育工具比电子游戏更普遍。电子游戏，特别是严肃游戏，有潜力与青少年建立联系并传授与阿片类药物安全相关的关键知识。让青少年、家长和药剂师参与严肃游戏的设计、完善和评估，对于打造一款强大、有效的游戏来说既新颖又必要。本评论描述了一种新型阿片类药物用药安全干预措施——MedSMA℞T Families的概念化、构思、开发和评估。这种两部分的干预措施包括一款针对青少年的严肃游戏《MedSMA℞T：制药城历险记》，以及一个以家庭为重点的工具——个性化家庭用药安全计划。这种干预措施是首个基于理论、以家庭为重点的阿片类药物用药安全工具包，由研究人员、游戏开发者、行为健康科学家、药剂师、学生药剂师、成瘾医学医生、青少年健康医生、家长和青少年组成的跨学科团队共同设计。关键利益相关者（药剂师、家长和青少年）的反馈表明，他们对MedSMA℞T Families干预措施的两个组成部分都持积极态度并留下了良好印象。两项独立研究的实证证据表明，与青少年安全行为相关的关键概念有所改善。迄今为止的研究结果支持广泛使用、实施和传播这种有效的干预措施，以支持青少年家庭的安全阿片类药物处方实践。在本文中，我们概述并总结了干预措施的开发过程以及使用纵向数据来验证我们过程的每一步。未来的方向包括移动兼容性、根据关键利益相关者的反馈进行完善，以及在开具和分发阿片类药物的各种临床环境中传播，如急诊科、药房、医院和诊所。
