Overdose education with naloxone distribution (OEND) is a key national strategy to reduce morbidity and mortality related to opioid overdoses. Train-the-trainer model has been one method to increase the pool of trainers to facilitate greater dissemination of OEND. This exploratory study seeks to (1) evaluate participant's change in knowledge and confidence, (2) examine if pre- and post-training test outcomes differed by occupation and level of experience, and (3) determine if train-the-trainer participants trained others 6 months later. Methods: Fifteen train-the-trainer sessions were delivered to staff from community organizations who served high-risk clients in four counties whose overdose death rates ranged from 11.2 to 32.8 per 100,000. Participants were administered pre- and post-training tests from September 2017 to December 2018. A follow-up survey was conducted 6 months post-training to evaluate outcomes. Final paired pre-and post-training surveys of 109 participants were used for analysis. Paired sample t-tests were used to evaluate changes in the knowledge and confidence in teaching others. One-way ANOVA compared the change scores across groups with different demographic or experiential characteristics. Kruskal-Wallis Test was used for Likert scales. Results: The one and one-half hour train-the-trainer curriculum increased participants' knowledge and confidence to teach others (p < .001). This was particularly true for participants who had no prior experience compared to those who had some experience with naloxone (p = .0003). Changes in confidence to teach others significantly improved among demographic subgroups of participants. At 6 months after completing the train-the-trainer curriculum, 14 participants had trained 243 new trainees. Conclusions: Implementing a train-the-trainer model for OEND increases knowledge and participants' confidence to teach others. This demonstrates the important potential of the train-the-trainer model to respond to the growing opioid overdose epidemic.
Keywords: Opioid overdose education; Train-the-Trainer; naloxone distribution.