Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-14-2022
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The opioid epidemic has permeated all strata of society over the last two decades, especially within the adolescent student athletic environment, a group particularly at risk and presenting their own challenges for science and practice. This paper (a) describes the development of a web-based intervention called the Student Athlete Wellness Portal that models effective opioid misuse resistance strategies and (b) details the findings of a single-group design to test its effectiveness. Materials and Methods: Formative research included 35 student athletes residing in the United States, ages 14 to 21, who had been injured in their school-based sport. They participated in in-depth qualitative interviews to explore narratives relating to their injuries and pain management plans. Inductive analyses of interview transcripts revealed themes of the challenges of being a student athlete, manageable vs. unmanageable pain, and ways to stay healthy. These themes were translated into prevention messages for the portal, which was then tested in a single-group design. Results: Users of the portal (n = 102) showed significant decreases in their willingness to misuse opioids and increases in their perceptions of opioid risks. Conclusions: This manuscript illuminates the processes involved in translating basic research knowledge into intervention scripts and reveals the promising effects of a technology-based wellness portal.
Recommended Citation
Pezalla, A.E.; Choi, H.; McKee, F.; Miller-Day, M.; Hecht, M. The Student Athlete Wellness Portal: Translating Student Athletes’ Prescription Opioid Use Narratives into a Targeted Public Health Intervention. Medicina 2022, 58, 1642. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina58111642
Copyright
The authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Health Communication Commons, Medical Humanities Commons, Substance Abuse and Addiction Commons
Comments
This article was originally published in Medicina, volume 58, in 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina58111642