•  
  •  
 

Abstract

BoilerWoRx is a mobile health initiative that was created in response to Indiana's opioid public health crisis. This College of Pharmacy program is multidisciplinary with students from engineering, nursing, liberal arts, and medicine. BoilerWoRx offers education to both students and community members. There is a comprehensive training for students who volunteer with the BoilerWoRx team, which include various educational Ted Talks, naloxone training, along with assessment tool trainings. For the community members at the events, drug disposal kits, wellness education, syringe service assistance, naloxone distribution, mental health assessments, and community resources are available.

Currently, BoilerWoRx is working with engineering students and the research team to create and track quality outcomes from the community events. Data collection includes: location of events, how many community members engaged, how many drug destruction bags and naloxone doses distributed, and how many individuals use the destruction bags. We currently have two grants that support the BoilerWoRx program. One is the Firestarter Grant that focuses on strengthening the partnership with the Tippecanoe County Health Department (TCHD). The second grant is from North Central Indiana Area Heath Education Center (AHEC) and is focused on providing continuing education events for providers and community healthcare workers as well as community events within each of the counties in north central Indiana that AHEC serves. The continuing education will focus on harm reduction, naloxone training and distribution, and medication assisted treatment (MAT).

The initial focus of BoilerWoRx has been in the Lafayette and West Lafayette area, but the partnership with AHEC has expanded our endeavors into neighboring counties. Through this initiative, the College of Pharmacy and BoilerWoRx strive to educate community members and healthcare professionals about the resources available in their own communities and surrounding areas. Over time, this should ideally translate to improved public health outcomes across various counties in Indiana.

DOI

10.5703/1288284317241

Share

COinS