The proposed project targets the dual needs of the nation's general population and the U.S. Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). More specifically, the proposed project will: 1) Increase awareness about and promote attitude and behavior change among healthcare providers to positively affect the growing problem of non- medical use of prescription and over-the-counter medication; and 2) Demonstrate effectiveness of an expanded, multi-pronged communication strategy targeting mainstream media and utilizing user-generated content. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) The Partnership at Drugfree.org is a health communications organization dedicated to preventing and promoting treatment for drug and alcohol abuse by young people. In April of 2012, The Partnership at Drugfree.org announced the establishment of the first annual Wake Up to Medicine Abuse week. Wake Up to Medicine Abuse is a national, week-long public awareness and education campaign and call to action to reduce medicine abuse as well as a year-round effort led by The Partnership at Drugfree.org to provide effective outreach, education, and tools to youth, parents, healthcare providers through innovative multimedia with the goal of reducing non-medical use of prescription and over-the-counter medication.
The Aims, including targeted outcomes, include:
Aim1 : Develop and implement components of the Wake Up to Medicine Abuse project targeting healthcare providers;
Aim 2 : Demonstrate the Wake Up to Medicine Abuse project is an effective communication plan that increases awareness, intentions, and self-efficacy among providers to take preventive action;
Aim 3 : Decrease the number of people who use prescriptions and over-the-counter medication non- medically by increasing the proportion of providers taking preventive actions in response to the Wake Up to Medicine Abuse project;
and Aim 4 : Conduct rapid cycle evaluation to ensure that the Wake Up to Medicine Abuse project meets the needs of healthcare providers and enables them to take action to prevent non-medical use of prescriptions and over-the-counter medication Activities during Year 1 of the project will focus on significant expansion and enhancement of the dedicated Wake Up web resource (to be introduced in September of 2012). Future activities will be guided by the rapid cycle feedback gathered from healthcare providers and others.
The total societal costs of prescription drug abuse total $181 billion annually. The proposed project targets the dual needs of the nation's general population and the U.S. Food and Drug Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). More specifically, the proposed project will: 1) Increase awareness about and promote attitude and behavior change among healthcare providers to positively affect the growing problem of non-medical use of prescription and over-the-counter medication; and 2) Demonstrate effectiveness of an expanded, multi-pronged communication strategy targeting mainstream media and utilizing user-generated content. Administration (FDA)
