Upstream prevention of opioid misuse in school-based health centers: provider attitudes, perceptions, and practice

ABSTRACT

This study explored school-based health center (SBHC) providers’ attitudes, perceptions, and practice of upstream and downstream strategies to prevent opioid misuse with a focus on Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT). We distributed an electronic survey to 141 New York State SBHC providers serving middle/high school students October-November 2019. Most participants (82%) agreed their SBHC has a role in preventing opioid misuse/overdose, but half indicated they do not have the skills (51%) and two-thirds the confidence (66%) to prevent it. Results identified attitudes and perceptions to target with training, education, and marketing to increase delivery of upstream interventions.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• alcohol and marijuana use prevention
• opioid crisis
• opioid misuse and overdose
• school-based health centers
• substance misuse

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).