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Abstract
Objective
To identify and describe interventions that increase access to naloxone for undergraduate students.
Methods
A systematic review across 4 databases identified interventions that expand access to naloxone at colleges in the United States from 2015–2023. Three reviewers extracted the following data to create a narrative synthesis and summary of program elements: setting, rationale for intervention, timeline, intervention components, study size, collaboration, sustainability, outcomes and results.
Results
Seven articles met inclusion criteria. Institutions’ implemented naloxone interventions due to concerns for student safety and/or student overdose fatalities. Three universities collaborated with their School of Pharmacy for program design and/or dissemination, while two partnered with state-based naloxone distribution programs. Most programs combined opioid-overdose/naloxone training; four distributed naloxone kits. Three studies included pre/post-outcomes, and all reported increases in participant knowledge, attitudes, and/or ability to respond to an overdose.
Conclusions
Our results indicates an opportunity for wide-scale implementation of undergraduate naloxone programs within US colleges. However, more rigorous implementation research is needed to identify barriers and facilitators to program feasibility, acceptability, and participation.
Conflict of interest disclosure
The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of United States.