Students Host Interprofessional Event on Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness
The American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) Generation Rx Committee recently hosted an interprofessional event on prescription drug abuse awareness. The event was a multidisciplinary discussion of the issues and solutions to the abuse of prescription drugs with a focus on what each healthcare professional can do to break the chain of abuse.
The discussion kicked off with a presentation by Sally Guthrie, PharmD, an associate professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy. Dr. Guthrie holds a joint appointment with the Department of Psychiatry in the Medical School. Dr. Guthrie provided an overview of the state of prescription drug abuse in the United States. She noted national trends showing a decrease in young adults misusing prescription pain medication, but an increase in heroin dependence or abuse. Heroin has become cheaper than street pills, which many resort to after originally misusing a valid opioid prescription.
Tracelyn Freeman, PharmD’18, facilitated discussion on useful prescription drug abuse diversion tactics or interventions, and how participants will work toward stopping prescription drug abuse as practitioners and students. The discussion focused on how to holistically treat addiction as a healthcare team, what role each healthcare professional played, and how to best council patients on the resources available to them.
The event concluded with a patient case study where students practiced how they would council a patient who was seeking an intervention. Learn how you can take action to help prevent the misuse of prescription medications.
