BGSU Opioid Teach-In: Call for Participation

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that from 2015-2016, opioid overdose deaths increased 27.7% with a 5.6% increase in emergency department (ED) reports per quarter from July 2016 to September 2017. In this report, the Midwest region of the United States was identified as one of the regions with the largest increase in ED visits. As a result of this current health crisis, an Opioid Teach-In is planned for September 25, 2018 that is designed to educate the Bowling Green and BGSU communities.   

Our long-term goal is to develop an educational campaign that will provide consistent messages focused on understanding the opioid crisis from a multitude of societal areas. The current national clearinghouses and organizations are useful, but they are somewhat limited in reaching the masses. The objective of this call for participation is to solicit assistance in developing mini-modules of various lengths (e.g., 15-20 minutes, 30-45 minutes, or > 60 minutes) for use during the educational campaign. The mini-modules include pre- and post-test questions, activities and PowerPoint with expanded narrative. The mini-modules are due August 22, 2018. Faculty members throughout the BGSU campus are invited to utilize the most appropriate mini-module to facilitate discussion on this topic in their classes prior to the Opioid Teach-In.

In order to participate, please submit an email with the topic you are willing to prepare a module to Jon Sprague by July 30, 2018.   

Our current list of mini-module topic areas include, but are not limited to history of opioid and use, psychology of opioid addiction, neurobiology of substance use disorders, chemistry of the opioid and fentanyl analogs, economics of clandestine laboratories and the health burden costs associated with the opioid crisis, and policy and epidemiology. Modules representing other disciplines are also in need such as in the social sciences, arts, humanities and cultural studies.

Other Ways to Participate on 9.25.18:

• Consider requiring students to attend a session/presentation or activity planned for the day or offer extra credit for their attendance.
• Teach a unit based in your discipline on opioids. There will be curriculum modules available for you to utilize in your classes before the event to which you will have access.
• Create a module grounded in your area.
• Note on your syllabus that events will be held from 9 a.m.–9 p.m. on Tuesday, September 25, 2018.