Impact of Community Pharmacists’ Opioid Safety Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, and Knowledge with the RESPOND Toolkit

Abstract Objective Pharmacists are well positioned to reduce opioid prescribing risks, but often lack resources and training to effectively support these activities. Resources Encouraging Safe Prescription Opioid & Naloxone Dispensing (RESPOND) is an educational toolkit developed to provide community pharmacists with a comprehensive education program and practice resources about prescription drug misuse, prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP), and naloxone dispensing. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of the RESPOND Toolkit to improve pharmacists' knowledge and assess changes in pharmacists' attitudes and beliefs towards opioid use disorder and the PDMP across a diverse pool of community pharmacists in Oregon. Methods Pharmacists were recruited using a listserv of Oregon-licensed pharmacists. Pharmacists were asked to complete a pre-intervention survey, three online educational modules with pre/post quizzes (quizzes optional), and a post-intervention survey. Data were analyzed using paired t-tests, chi-squared analyses, and effect size calculations (Cohen's d). Results A total of 133 recruited pharmacists completed the three educational modules and post-intervention survey. Respondents were 37.6 ± 11.0 years of age and mostly frontline pharmacy staff (n=86; 65.6%) with 10.5 ± 11.6 years of pharmacy experience. Pharmacists' knowledge (Cohen's d=0.55, p Conclusion The RESPOND Toolkit is an effective and scalable training resource for community pharmacists, with the potential to promote behavioral shifts that support opioid safety for patients. Results demonstrate improved attitudes, knowledge, and perceived behavioral control. Future work on the RESPOND Toolkit should evaluate the effect of implementation on pharmacist clinical activities and dispensing outcomes.