There are three prevention strategies to be applied to address the development of the current opioid crisis that includes primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. Primary prevention strategies are based on the prevention of opioid abuse through improving prescription procedures as clinicians need to assess a variety of factors and risks before prescribing opioids to patients. The effective evaluation of possible risks of the development of drug addiction is obligatory. In this situation, the focus should be on proposing non-opioid analgesics as alternatives for patients (Kolodny et al., 2015). The non-medical use of opioids can be prevented by asking for only legitimate prescriptions in the pharmacy.
Secondary prevention in the context of the opioid crisis is related to screening individuals’ health conditions. The focus is on treating opioid-addicted people to prevent complications and decrease the risk of overdosing. Much attention should be paid to educating community members regarding the early identification of opioid abuse (Kolodny et al., 2015; McAnally, 2018). Furthermore, clinicians need to pay more attention to screening patients regarding the necessity of continuing opioid therapy and providing prescriptions for refills.
In the context of tertiary prevention, it is necessary to promote therapeutic approaches and rehabilitation required for individuals addicted to opioids. Therapies can be prescribed depending on the results of multidimensional assessments of potential risks because many factors need to be taken into consideration. The purpose is to prevent drug abduction among treated patients and overcome the risks of overdosing. At this stage, it is necessary to apply substitution therapies supported by psychosocial therapy to promote positive outcomes of the treatment (Kolodny et al., 2015; McAnally, 2018). Clinicians are expected to facilitate individuals’ recovery from opioid addiction in the context of tertiary prevention strategies.
References
Kolodny, A., Courtwright, D. T., Hwang, C. S., Kreiner, P., Eadie, J. L., Clark, T. W., & Alexander, G. C. (2015). The prescription opioid and heroin crisis: A public health approach to an epidemic of addiction. Annual Review of Public Health, 36, 559-574.
McAnally, H. B. (2018). Addressing host factors: Primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of opioid dependence. In H. B. McAnally (Ed.), Opioid dependence (pp. 265-290). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.