Combatting the Opioid Crisis: Expanding Naloxone Kit Distribution to Niagara Health Emergency Departments
2019
This case study from the Western Public Health Casebooks 2019 provides a fictional scenario related to the opioid crisis in Canada. The overall premise of the case is to explore the possibility of providing emergency Naloxone kits to patients in emergency rooms, as opioid related deaths in Canada have spiked in recent years. However, the current hospital staff are apprehensive about providing these kits to patients because they believe the kits will “enable drug users.” This stigmatization of addicts makes it much more difficult for the Canadian public health community to implement the Naloxone intervention as they face the challenge of ensuring that the hospital staff understand the social factors that play into addiction. This fictional case study focuses on addressing social determinants of health and health equity, as well as the possible methods of educating hospital staff in working with patients with addictive habits.
This case contains guidance for instructors, including learning objectives and discussion questions. It is part of a 14-case collection written by students in the MPH class of the Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health at Western University, Canada. The cases may be freely copied and used for educational purposes by an accredited educational institution.
Source:
Harold K et al. Combatting the Opioid Crisis: Expanding Naloxone Kit Distribution to Niagara Health Emergency Departments. Western Public Health Casebook 2019. Public Health Casebook Publishing 2019. https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/publichealth/cases/casebook_2019.html.