Abstract
BackgroundMisuse and abuse of prescription drugs including opioids has been a driving force behind the drug overdose epidemic plaguing communities across the USA for more than two decades. Medication accumulation in the home environment can contribute to this issue. However, research on proper disposal in rural communities is limited. For this project, an applied public health approach was used to raise awareness and improve prescription drug disposal practices by pilot testing prescription drug disposal systems in participating communities.MethodsA community-based disposal project was facilitated with assistance from community partners. The project centered on distribution of drug deactivation bags in homes and medication drop boxes at multiple healthcare facilities.ResultsThe team distributed 215 drug deactivation bags to 162 community households resulting in destruction of 8011 pills, 8 medicated dermal patches and 777 mL of liquid medication. A total of 4684 pounds of medication were collected and disposed of through healthcare facility drop boxes.ConclusionThe strategies identified are scalable and easy to replicate to meet any community's needs in reducing potential challenges of medication diversion.
Highlights
Misuse and abuse of prescription drugs including opioids has been a driving force behind the drug overdose epidemic plaguing communities across the USA for more than two decades
Anecdotal comments were received from tribal elders and other community members expressing the need for education and access to proper medication disposal options
Telephone interviews were conducted by Injury Prevention Program (IPP) staff to document Indian Health Service (IHS) and tribally operated healthcare facility pharmacy department perspectives to better understand community disposal options
Summary
Misuse and abuse of prescription drugs including opioids has been a driving force behind the drug overdose epidemic plaguing communities across the USA for more than two decades. Misuse and abuse of prescription drugs, including opioids, has been a driving force behind the overdose epidemic plaguing communities across the nation for more than two decades. Due to the remote setting of many tribal communities, literature is limited on barriers and access to proper medication disposal This often results in stockpiling medications in the home environment or improperly discarding in the trash or toilet. From a previous project survey conducted by the Indian Health Service (IHS) Injury Prevention Program (IPP), only one out of every five individuals who had been prescribed medications disposed of them properly. To address this issue, IHS introduced strategies to improve disposal
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