Revisioning Opioid Education Materials
In 2016 - 2018
>11K Canadians &
>136K Americans
died from Opioid Overdose, triple
the number of deaths caused by
motor vehicle accidents
>
By 2017,
for the 1st time
in 4 decades
stopped increasing
Canadian life expectancy
The project included co-designing a simple set of customizable templates for opioid overdose emergencies, offering quick training for injectable naloxone. The Opioid Poisoning Toolkit is downloadable with simple, customizable illustrations in multiple genders and multicultural XXX together for use in clinics and communities. It was designed with input from the harm reduction educators, emergency physicans and community responders, emphasizing the importance of patient/public involvement in design.
The Design Research for Opioid Education project is a partnership between the Design Health Research Innovation Lab (link) at the University of Alberta and
the Health Design Studio at Ontario College of Art and Design (link) that aims to:
Build the case for a lived-experience, evidence-based national approach to opioid education materials
Highlight and share
the research work to relevant decision makers and stakeholders over
the next five years
>
What is Opioid Poisoning and
how does that relate to Naloxone?
Naloxone is an opioid antidote. Naloxone can be given as an injection (intramuscular injection), or as a nasal spray into a person’s nostrils in the event of an opioid poisoning. Naloxone works by reversing the effects of opioids, temporarily alleviating symptoms of poisoning (such as diminished breathing) for a person who has been poisoned, waking them from unconsciousness.
What we are doing
Community engagement webinars
In Winter 2025, we are hosting 3 webinars that feature opioid education response research. We will feature three projects that are based on extensive research on stigma, content, colour use, animation, and cognition. Join us!
Policy Recommendations
DHS has developed a model for overdose response. This is a multi-stakeholder comprehensive model that identifies capacity building needs and supports, as well as tools and guidance to support response at the local and community level. To read more about this model, read our evidence brief. (link to Com-Cap evidence brief).
Download the Toolkit
DHRI Lab has developed a downloadable, customizable toolkit for the development and use of health care and community organizations. This toolkit is designed to be customized for your own use. It includes a diverse set of customizable illustrations and templates including a poster, brochure, and wallet card.
Our partners and contributors
Our partners and funders in this work are:
