/ Project Overview
Saving Lives: The Development & Evaluation of a Re-Designed Emergency Naloxone Kit Design for Opioid Poisoning
Key Words: harm reduction, opioid crisis, opioid naive, intranasal naloxone, take-home naloxone, stigma, students, recreational substance use, young adults, emergency kit design Objective: Current standard THN kit designs are often too large for many people to carry in situations where they are most needed such as students and others who are around recreational drug use, where there is especially great risk of overdose due to opioid naivety. Can we re-design what a THN kit can look like for the general student population to increase THN uptake and carriage? |
/ Collaborators
Syeda Maryem Abbas - Health Designer / UX Designer,
MDes, Design for Health, OCADU Hannah Walsh - Health Designer / Researcher, MDes, Design for Health, OCADU |
/ Abstract
Synthetic opioids like fentanyl and analogues appear to be fueling the rise in opioid-related deaths in Canada, partially due to its adulteration into other substances. Post-secondary students are an under-researched area of harm reduction but are at high risk due to the high rate at which they consume substances recreationally. We posit that students and other young adults and recreational substance users need Take-Home Naloxone (THN) designed specifically for their needs. Our research finds that student needs include: intranasal naloxone, compact and lightweight kit size, a supportive atmosphere, substance testing resources, and better visual emergency communication. This project introduces an alternative kit design, NaloxBox, as a way to encourage uptake among students and address key issues as determined through research findings.
/ Research Process
The design process included extensive literature review, case study, and document review, SMEs interviews, a survey sent to undergraduate/graduate students to understand kit-carrying behaviour. Throughout the design process, various design techniques were utilized including: stakeholder maps, user maps, system actor maps, service blueprint, and journey maps for a variety of different personas to understand the target audience and stakeholders. Once data was analyzed, a series of rapid brainstorming sessions, prototyping and iteration cycles occurred in the formation of the redesigned naloxone kit.
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/ Results
Design of a smaller-sized and streamlined THN kit (called NaloxBox: Safety on the Go) with the goal to increase both uptake / carriage of THN and confidence in students / young adults administering nasal naloxone.
/ For more on this project please visit: Re-Designed Emergency Naloxone Kit |