Opioid prevention is not a straightforward problem. While overdoses are plaguing our communities, current opioid users and potential future users may not respond to overdose-focused messaging for multiple reasons. These barriers include a lack of knowledge of what opioids are, an assumption that doctor’s prescriptions are safe, and drug addict stigmas, amongst others. This session will explore the differences between messaging strategies for recreational users, parents, potential users, and prescribed users, including samples from different populations and states. Then, the session will review message testing research with various opioid risk audiences and present a messaging framework to build an understanding of opioid risk. The speaker will touch on critical communications concepts, including message tailoring, cultural competency, and segmentation, and how they apply to opioids prevention. This framework will help those developing opioid prevention campaigns and communications ensure their messages are effectively and efficiently reaching their specific audience segments.

UPON COMPLETION OF THIS COURSE, PARTICIPANTS WILL BE ABLE TO:
- Describe the barriers to effective opioids communications with distinct audiences.
- Explain the building blocks of knowledge necessary to for the public to understand opioids risk.
- Explore how message tailoring, cultural competency, and segmentation apply to opioid communications.