Prescription Drug Abuse at Otterbein

Danielle PauleyRebecca SheehanBrooke BogdanAnsley Shaw

»Partners:» Student Health and Wellness

» Student Nurses Association

»Research:

» Otterbein Survey» Secondary Research

» Methods:

»Important Findings:» Unintentional drug poisonings (over 90% of which involve prescription

medications) are the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S.

» At Otterbein, 32.1% of students used prescription pills not prescribed to them once a year. 4.3% said they took these drugs once a month while 4.9% said they took them once a week or more.

» 8.3% of those who participated in the Otterbein survey said they started using prescription drugs not prescribed to them in college while 11.9% said

they started using them in high school.

»Important Findings Continued:» Students turn to alcohol or prescription drugs to relieve stress, improve

mood or enhance performance.

» Few evidence-based, targeted programs or interventions have been developed for college students known to be at high risk for substance abuse or to have a substance use disorder. Programs that do exist and the ones being developed largely focus on alcohol use.

» Otterbein College strives to provide an open environment and works creatively to make sure students feel secure and knowledgeable among the face of drugs.

» In today’s society, the abuse of prescription drugs now exceeds the abuse of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and ecstasy combined.

» Many college age students are succumbing to prescription drugs to stay up late, keep up with the trends, or even to study.

» Julie Saker and the other members of Student Conduct and Wellness along with the Nurses Association have researched and strategized opportunities to reach out to students that may be misinformed about the epidemic of prescription drugs.

» The challenge is to develop a program or initiative that grabs hold of the attention of Otterbein’s students that allows them to make every effort to conduct a drug-free, successful college lifestyle that will lead to an accomplished future.

»Opportunity/Problem Statement:

» To create a preventative campaign against prescription drug abuse for freshman and sophomores on Otterbein’s campus

»Goal:

» Maintain a consistent anti-prescription drug abuse message on campus by holding at least two awareness events or extra-curricular informational sessions per semester.

» Decrease the percentage of prescription drug abusers on campus from 32% to 22% by September, 2013.

» Develop a structure for student affairs that will ensure the sustainability of this campaign for the years to come.

»Objectives:

» Audiences, Strategies, & Tactics:» Freshman and Sophomore Students:

» Audience:˃ Most likely to be influenced by campaign because college is a fresh start˃ At a typical starting point for the abuse of prescription drugs˃ Will be the future leaders of campus culture

» Strategy:˃ Incorporate awareness programs into Freshman and sophomore learning experiences.

» Tactics:˃ Work with FYE professors to develop PDA awareness programs˃ Develop activities for orientation sessions dealing with prescription drug abuse˃ Hold a PDA awareness week with mini events and activities throughout the week

including a speaker˃ Create educational materials for First Friday Festival table including

+ Pill bottles+ Pamphlets with testimonies and facts+ Counseling information+ Fliers with campaign information and dates for upcoming events

» Audiences, Strategies, & Tactics:» Athletes

» Audience:˃ Make up a large percentage of campus˃ Likely to abuse prescription drugs to help with pain or stress˃ Work with Dick Reynolds and coaches to help educate the athletes

» Strategy:˃ Inform athletes, students, parents and the Westerville community about the dangers of

prescription drug abuse during Otterbein University sporting events» Tactics:

˃ Create information sessions for athletes about the dangers of Rx abuse at the beginning of each season.

˃ Information sessions will be required for Otterbein athletes & will include facts, statistics, dangers and stories about prescription drug abuse.

˃ Create educational materials to hand out during sporting events especially during big events like Homecoming˃ Align with different teams (football, basketball) to create a specific game to bring awareness to the issue

+ Have information booth, t-shirts, pill bottles, etc.+ Work with WOBN to set up music+ Work with other campus organizations as sponsors

(Otterbein360.com, PRSSA, OCF, etc) to get volunteers, the word out and donations

» Audience:˃ Greek Life has a __% on campus˃ Peer pressure within sororities and fraternities˃ Educate new members˃ Event participation/promotion

» Strategy:» Inform organizations on campus such as fraternities and sororities » Tactics

˃ Would be during recruitment/pledging. ˃ Create a Greek life seminar that all pledges and actives are required to go to.˃ Develop a creative way to inform the pledges/actives during pledging season by

incorporating informational pledging activities˃ Create a competition between Greek life and use incentives

» Timing:˃ Sorority and fraternity recruitment, end of fall semester .

» Audiences, Strategies, & Tactics:» Greek Life

» Audiences, Strategies, & Tactics:

» We will primarily use these audiences to help get the word out about the dangers of prescription drugs and the events that we put on.

» These organizations will not only help us get the word out but they will also learn about the dangers of prescription drugs. These audiences will be very beneficial to our campaign.

» These organizations include:˃ WOBN: Otterbein’s Radio Station˃ WOCC-TV: Otterbein’s Television Station˃ The Tan and Cardinal: Otterbein’s Campus Newspaper˃ Otterbein360: Otterbein’s Online News Outlet

» Work with the Tan and Cardinal and have them run a story about the dangers/maybe a story that hits close to Otterbein

» Work with radio station to get coverage of the event and invite them to work with the campaign and DJ during the event itself

» Send press release to the T&C» Have it be a discussion during one of Otterbein's radio talk shows

» On Campus Organizations

» Have Otterbein declare an entire week towards Prescription Drug Awareness -- have different events every day of the week, can have giveaways in the Campus Center during lunch and dinner, at the end of the week we could have Otterbein's radio station to play music and have trivia during dinner with prizes

» Audiences, Strategies, & Tactics:» RAs

» Audience:˃ Intervening audience˃ Live closely with on-campus students

» Strategy:˃ Align with residence assistants to inform them of the dangers of Rx use.

» Tactics˃ During RA training in the spring, educate the RA’s about prescription drug use. ˃ Create informational materials that they can pass out to their residents˃ Develop a competition between halls/dorms and include an incentive if they win.

» Timing:˃ RA training, spring quarter/semester..

» Audiences, Strategies, & Tactics:» Health and Nursing Professors and Students

» Audience:˃ Related to their majors ˃ Educated on prescription drugs and their effects, make-up, uses˃ They can help educate us

» Strategy:˃ Inform students in collaboration with Otterbein health and nursing classes

» Tactics:˃ Incorporate prescription drug abuse information into health and nursing classes on

campus. ˃ Correspond with Health and Nursing professors to work out some kind of awareness

message that can be done by a member of student affairs as a guest speaker or done by the professor in normal class time.

»Media:» Media organizations on campus are readily available to help get the word out about

important causes» They are easily accessible» They are student run, so they are very involved with what’s happening on campus» A lot of other outlets can come from them» WOBN is a great source for getting PSA’s or other campus announcements out.

Anyone is allowed to be on the air when a supervisor is contacted.˃ Janice Windborne: Staff Advisor

» The Tan and Cardinal is full of active students that are willing to help out others by placing ads, timelines and even stories can be placed about prescription drugs.˃ Hillary Warren: Staff Advisor

» Otterbein360 is based through the internet so it’s always accessible-also linked in through Facebook and Twitter so announcements can go straight to followers.

» WOCC-TV helps students visibly see a way to help and reach out against abuse of RX drugs. ˃ Jeff Demas: Director of Television

»Social Media Options:» Outside of campus, there is always Facebook and Twitter» Almost every student on campus should be linked in online

socially» Placing ads and words in with the list of media available on

campus followed with a link to Facebook and Twitter pages» Helps students follow a timeline » Twitter is extremely consistent» Facebook statuses show up in Newsfeeds of followers, even

students just browsing will at least catch a glimpse of the logo» Social media makes it easy to have announcements that can help

get the word out for Otterbein University against the Abuse of RX Drugs

»Promotion Materials:» Brochures are easy to place in open spaces (tables, desks, bulletin

boards, etc.) and contain a lot of information» This brochure contains a real-life story about prescription drug abuse» Facts and statistics with pictures» Contact information» Informational cards are small and contain quick read information» Symptoms and consequences» Where to go if help is needed/who to contact» Table toppers give can help catch student’s attention» Real life story of a professional athlete addicted and how it altered his life» Facts and Statistics» Help is out there section» Placing table toppers in libraries, classrooms,

and the campus center gives students a reason to read when they’re bored or eating

Prescription DrugTimeline

MonWeek 11

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MonWeek 12

TuesWeek 12

WedWeek 12

ThursWeek 12

FriWeek 12

Key Public Otterbein Students

Strategy Hold a week long awareness week on campus

Tactics Have informational tables set up in the Campus Center

X

X X X

Create table tents and have them in the CC and Library to advertise

X X X X X

Have an article published in the T&C promoting the event

X

Post fliers around campus

X X

Work with WOCC to promote the event

X

Create a stall story to create awareness

X X X X X

Have contests and prizes to get students involved

X

Prescription Drug Timeline

Week 3Fall Semester

Week 4Fall Semester

Week 5Fall Semester

Week 6Fall Semester

Week 7Fall Semester

Week 8Fall Semester

Week 9Fall Semester

Week 10Fall Semester

Week 11Fall Semester

Week 12Fall Semester

Key Public Otterbein Freshmen Students

Strategy Create awareness through FYE

Tactics Work with Jennifer Bechtold to get a FYE about prescription drug abuse

X X X

Try to get Dr. Ken Hale from Ohio State University to speak about prescription drugs

X X

Highly advertise the event through different organizations on campus and through FYE professors

X X X X X

»Evaluation:

» What worked?˃ Otterbein University Board of Directors presentation

» What didn’t work?» Future evaluation

» Campaign:

» Project:» Working with the group» Working with the client» Presenting to the board

»Questions/Comments?