Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)

Other program activitieswalmartsince 2020, Cadca and walmart have produced 28 distinct events to increase naloxone awareness and community trainings. Walmart partnered with community anti-drug coalitions of america (Cadca) to promote a series of community events hosted by Cadca members at local walmart academy sites. These events are aimed at sharing information about local efforts and resources for fighting opioid misuse, and training community members to recognize and respond to opioid overdoses. Each community event featured a virtual reality (vr) demonstration developed by walmart that enables participants to simulate the steps of recognizing and responding to an opioid overdose, including administering the overdose-reversing drug naloxone. The events serve as pilot trainings that will inform the development of a nationwide series to deploy the vr overdose response training and promote opioid misuse awareness to communities around the country. Kenvue (formerly johnson & johnson)cadca has been at the forefront of otc medicine safety work for many years, both through training youth to make change in their communities and by working with key coalition leaders and preventionists who can spread the message of otc medicine safety widely. Implementing medicine safety initiatives is a huge step towards promoting health literacy and wellness to all people in the communities we serve. Throughout 2023, Cadca partnered with johnson & johnson's science education and patient advocacy team and the consumer healthcare products association to raise awareness to how medicine misuse intersects with dangerous social media challenges.at mid-year training institute last year, Cadca released the over-the-counter (otc) medicine safety guide, which is available at cadca.org/otc and continues to be enthusiastically received by coalitions interested in promoting health literacy and strategic, primary prevention. Through our partnership with johnson & johnson, Cadca continues to work with state leaders and regional prevention providers to promote the otc medicine safety guide, the range of tools available as part of the otc medicine safety program, and our partners leading these efforts across multiple industries. A special session at the 2023 Cadca forum gave attendees the opportunity to directly hear from and discuss the program with leaders from Maryland, new jersey, and new hampshire who each have years of experience working with otc medicine safety and have empowered dozens of youth and adult trainers to educate peers about responsible otc medicine use and misuse prevention. Alkermesafter receiving an alkermes inspiration grant in late 2022, Cadca worked with subject matter experts to distill the most vital information that everyday people need to understand the treatment of alcohol use disorder, the most common substance use problem in america. This september, Cadca released an educational video and infographic for all community members, showing how people can understand what types of healthcare are available to them and how to locate services using nationwide tools. Cadca will continue to promote these products and encourages all coalitions to make use of them through our website, the Cadca community, or our social media sites.indiviorcadca has worked with indivior since 2017, promoting awareness and access to critical, evidence-based medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder (moud) through community coalition strategies and partnerships.cadca continues to lead efforts, in partnership with indivior, on the moud community awareness project. At the 2023 Cadca national leadership forum, twenty coalitions from across the country convened to present progress and strategic plans for implementing community-based strategies for promoting opioid use disorder treatment. Coalition leaders reported an exciting range of initiatives, including coordinating physician grand rounds, mobile treatment units, transportation partnerships, and efforts to break down barriers to providing life-saving treatment in jails. The session also featured an insightful overview from our partners at indivior, covering the history of opioid treatment with special focus on recent changes which have made it easier for doctors to be trained in and prescribe medications containing buprenorphine. At the 2023 Cadca mid-year training institute, 20 leading coalitions from across the country came together to share strategies and successes in their implementation of community-wide awareness campaigns for evidence-based opioid use disorder (oud) treatments and targeted interventions with healthcare sector partners to facilitate availability and accessibility of treatment services. Coalitions have found that a key element in promoting treatment options is a reduction of stigma among key stakeholders, with some communities finding stigma not only for people who use illicit opioids, but for people who are taking treatment for oud. Following engagement in the year-long project, coalitions report that they will continue to serve in new roles on healthcare and overdose task forces in their communities and have gained valuable partnerships that will continue to inform their work.