The nationwide crisis presents brokers with a timely opportunity to deliver a real solution. Employers can now use evidence-based worksite programs that engage employees at the earliest stages of their Rx use in a non-threatening way and steer them (and their family members) to safe alternatives. This article will demonstrate what such an evidence-based program ought to look like, their efficacy, how to implement them, and the corollary benefits that accrue to brokers who promote such programs.

Awareness + training = prevention

The way the Center for Disease Control (CDC ) operates its alert and advisory systems for threats is instructive. Just witness how the agency contained the Zika outbreak.The CDC’s alerts went beyond warnings to communities across the U.S. They took proactive, coordinated steps, from controlling mosquito populations, to eliminating the conditions By doing so, the CDC was able to address both the sources of the disease and the conditions that promoted its spread. A similar approach to the prescription drug crisis would likewise address the problem at its root: dealing with the underlying conditions that prompt Rx misuse, and raising awareness to promote more responsible, health conscious behaviors.

We recently conducted a study that focused on improving employee health consciousness around Rx misuse. The study showed that employees who participated in the training improved their knowledge of and attitudes toward Rx misuse. Specifically, over 100 workers from different worksites showed significant increases in their knowledge of alternatives to Rx drugs for pain, energy, mood, and stress. Also, the program can help to destigmatize substance abuse prevention (and treatment) and improve overall employee well-being.

Best practices model

The program was one of two programs singled out in the Surgeon General’s landmark 2016 report, "Facing Addiction in America," for being the only ones that met their criteria for effective workplace prevention of substance abuse.

Findings point to the efficacy of early intervention via a simple one-hour onsite or web-based training. It is easy to increase employee knowledge of prescription drug use, misuse, and — most importantly — health-based alternatives when offered through a health benefits package, employee assistance, or wellness program. The positive outcomes from this research align with the stringent criteria that Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) has laid forth for exemplary programs. SAMHSA’s guidelines for evidence-based programs, if properly implemented at the worksite, can effectively educate a sizeable portion of at-risk employees who are otherwise hard to identify, let alone reach.

How to implement

A simple lunch and learn can incorporate many tips and guidelines for employees. There are many such resources available. We suggest that this program be delivered by the company wellness coordinator, trainer, or HR professional who also has awareness of policies and benefits. The following three key factors should be included to ensure positive outcomes:

1. Emphasize a positive, strengths-based message that focuses on health consciousness: We each have the ability to take responsibility for our awareness of personal and family health issues before they become a problem.

2. Explain that health consciousness has three aspects:

3. Be conscious of the primary motives behind using Rx drugs (e.g., for pain, sleep, energy, anxiety, concentration).

4. Know the risk/benefits of using prescription drugs; and

5. Know healthy alternatives to such use (making sure to tie in any and all benefits available from the employer).

6. Review personal scenarios of most relevance to employees. These can include topics such as dealing with an aging parent who may be misusing, talking to teenagers and pre-teens, monitoring and dispensing of one’s own use, avoiding sharing of Rx drugs with coworkers, etc.

Broker benefits

Brokers stand to benefit greatly by making clients aware of this low-cost, public health approach for many reasons, including:

1. Timely. It’s a timely deliverable that translates into lowered medical and productivity costs (absenteeism/presenteeism, etc).

2. Positive. Many negative articles in the news focus on the problem. You can be different by bringing positive news. You have an easy employer/employee “touch point” that presents a more solutions-oriented approach

3. Alignment. Employee prevention education easily integrates with various benefits you already know about. A company’s EAP and/or well-being initiative can be an effective delivery mechanisms for prescription drug education and prevention. You can help employers take a big picture or integrative approach and bring much needed relief to an increasingly critical employer pain point.

4. Engagement. Prevention education is also a “tip of spear” for addressing the employee engagement problem. While the program engages employees on the particular issue of Rx misuse, it’s an opportunity to engage workers on other company sponsored programs, and raise awareness of them. You can help reinforce your client’s message that they care about their team.

Conclusion

Prevention programs can be a hard sell, and it’s a challenge to demonstrate a concrete business return. Employers need to know that worksite awareness and education programs can be very effective in engaging people at the earliest stages of their Rx use and in a non-threatening way, steer them to safe alternatives. Brokers have the opportunity to reap the benefits of implementing and supporting such a program that has the potential to affect tens of thousands of individuals within their networks.