Involving caregivers in design and assessment of opioid risk and safety communication intervention in children

Abstract

BackgroundOpportunities to enhance opioid medication safety among children are frequently overlooked. There is little information about what information caregivers want when a child receives an opioid prescription following surgery. ObjectiveThis paper explores pediatric caregivers' baseline knowledge and expectations for opioid medication consults in order to refine an opioid safety consultation intervention. Second, it, assesses caregivers’ post-consult knowledge and evaluation after they received the refined opioid safety consultation. Patient involvementPediatric patient caregivers were involved in designing and evaluating an opioid education intervention. MethodsFifteen pediatric caregivers were interviewed about opioid consultations in the pre-intervention phase to inform the design of the subsequent opioid risk and safety consultation intervention. An opioid safety consultation intervention was then developed. Another 15 pediatric caregivers were interviewed in the post-intervention phase to explore impact of the revised intervention. Inductive content analysis was used to analyze data. ResultsCaregivers in the pre-intervention phase reported some knowledge about opioids, wanted to know if their child was prescribed an opioid and wanted information about its opioid risks and safety. Caregivers in the post-intervention phase reported an increase in knowledge about opioid risks and safety, recognized benefit of pharmacists describing the medication as an "opioid", appreciated the handout and were satisfied with the topics covered in the consultation. DiscussionDiscussing opioid risks can be uncomfortable for pharmacists and patients. This study explored pediatric caregivers' expectations about opioid consults and information they wanted to receive from pharmacists. This was used to develop a patient-centered education intervention which was then evaluated by caregivers for effectiveness, convenience, and comfort. Practical valueThis study reports pediatric caregivers’ perspectives and expectations about opioid consults which provide guidance for pharmacists to facilitate open and informative counseling for opioid medications.