Summary
An information sheet is a document that is issued to an individual or a group of people that are set to participate in a given activity or function. Its primary objective is usually to give a clear record or an insight into any necessary information that will be featured in the subject topic of the program. For instance, in this case, the information sheet will give more information concerning the chosen career of healthcare writing and communications on public health issues. These details will be used to serve the purpose of the transaction required to be processed by the target entities depending on the various fields and conditions. This chapter will look into how the information sheet and the brochure will be used, proposed improvements, and better ways of conveying the intended information to the public.
The uses of the information sheet and brochure
The information sheet will begin by stating the title of the program, whereby, in this case, it is the opioids crisis in the country. The next thing will be determining the project’s main objective, which is to create awareness concerning the increasing incidences of prescription overdoses and opioids in particular. Other disclosed details will include giving more details of the harmful effects of opioids overdose, the risk factors involved, emergency responses for prescription drug misuse, and the prevention measures to be considered when managing the problem.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
A brochure, on the other hand, is one document that can sometimes be folded, and its main purpose is usually to give brief information about a company, a product, or service. They are popular because of their effectiveness in briefly relaying bulk information using few words and appealing layout. They can also serve a large audience within a short time through their distribution methods. A suitable mechanism for distributing them is by placing them on a table or a checkout counter at a shopping store. Customers can then be issued with copies whenever they are served as they get informed about public health concerns as intended in the information sheets.
Proposed improvements and methods to convey the information using the information sheet and the brochure
Considering that nowadays, most people experience time confetti, the best approach to apply when the objective is to capture their already scattered attention is to critically think about the communication method to be used and the approach. One should thus acknowledge that an information sheet and a brochure is good communication mediums and better means of approach when eyeing to give a clear and compelling message to the target respondents. There are several ways of improving how to convey information through brochures and information sheets to audiences who understand and those that do not understand healthcare vocabularies.
One should avoid using generic headings that occupy much space. Instead, one should apply attention-grabbing titles that expose facts and gives declarative statements to the readers. Another improvement suggestion is making the brochure or information sheet as long as necessary and detailed. The primary goal is delivering a particular set of information and not to burden the audience with a variety of information that they do not even understand. Despite the complications, it is advisable to summarize the intended information down to what is needed.
Another improvement is to avoid using technical terms and stick to the application of commonly known words where possible. One should not assume that all viewers are familiar with medical vocabularies. Alternatively, they should apply regular understood terms by the public. Such words can be easy to comprehend and are likely to be understood across numerous groups of people from old and young age groups and those from various socioeconomic backgrounds. In this case, for example, the information sheet talks about opioids, which can also be referred to using common terms as prescription drugs. The issue of opioids overdose is a global problem that should be addressed using elaborate vocabularies when creating information sheets to reach a wide audience.
Creating a brochure is quite simple though designing a document that target respondents will refer to even in the future may not be a simple task. A good brochure design is very significant in addressing the subject topic and service information that is required. Achieving such targets, therefore, demands improvement suggestions to be considered when coming up with a better brochure outlook. The document is not only limited to the desired images or layout but also how the used elements blend. The elements may include the content, the font style applied, and the type of paper quality used to create it.
After determining the brochure purpose, it is important to familiarize with the folds because they determine how the details of the intended program will be displayed to the audience. The folds should complement the intended content and how the recipients are envisioned to read it. Project features such as the venues, date, and time should be highlighted in progressive steps to get a better outlook in the various folds as they open in sequences.
Reviewing the copy before releasing it to the public is also an important factor to consider. It is agreeable that, however much the content of the brochure might be significant, message presentation is also a crucial point to consider. The approach promotes easy understanding. The document should thus be reviewed for the intended entities. Areas to consider are whether if the information is bulky and can overwhelm the readers or if the details are too short. Reviewing the copy and determining its overall visual impression is also necessary. Too many texts in the brochure may make it less enticing and may attract spelling and grammatical errors. One should be as concise as possible to give valuable details within a short duration.
Lastly, determining the font styles and text color to be used is significant in writing the headings, subheadings, and body texts. It is advisable to limit the font styles to three to avoid ambiguity. Such attributes highly determine the readability and visual impression of the whole document. The public will easily be attracted to both the information sheet and the Brochure because of the suggested improvements hence achieving high attendance to the public health learning program.
1a) Information sheet
Opioids are substances that are extracted from synthetic or opium poppy analogues that have equivalent end characteristics. Some include heroin, morphine, oxycodone, tramadol, and methadone. These drugs have a significant potential of creating a state of substance dependence that is accompanied by strong cravings for opioid intake, continued opioid uses despite their harmful effects, impaired control over opioid intake. They have a physical withdrawal reaction in the event of instant withdrawal, a higher devotion to opioid use as compared to other activities and personal duties, and finally increased tolerance. Reliance on prescription opioids involves iatrogenic dependence that originates from chronic pain management and cravings ( World Health Organization 2018) . It leads to diversion and stealing of prescription opioids from medical facilities, patients, apothecaries, and the manufacturing and distribution chains. Instances of opioid misuse are rapidly escalating in the United States and are becoming a menace to the general socio-economic development of the country and must be addressed with immediate concerns. This discussion will, therefore, give an insight into opioid overdose, risk factors for opioid overdose, emergency responses to opioid overdose, and prevention measures aimed at managing the escalating problem.
Broad topic: Opioids.
Narrow topic: Harmful effects of opioids misuse.
Points developed: Opioid overdose, risk factors, emergency response, and prevention measures of opioid misuse.
Opioid overdose
Even though doctors usually prescribe opioids for pain management, their persistent intake can lead to a drug overdose that hence results in other harmful effects. Opioids significantly influence brain areas controlling breathing, and when consumed in high amounts, they can lead to respiratory depression and death ( Seth et al.,2018) . Opioid overdose is often diagnosed by various signs and symptoms commonly known as opioid overdose triad. They include unconsciousness, pinpoint pupils, and respiratory depression. The combined use of substances involving opioids, sedatives, and alcohol escalates the dangers of depression and mortality. Such characteristics have often been witnessed in numerous drug overdose cases. Because of their harmful properties causing respiratory depression, opioids misuse is responsible for numerous global deaths involving drug overdose. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports in 2016 found opioids overdose to be responsible for 19 413 mortalities in America, doubling the statistics in 2016. This was mainly due to the increased use of opioids prescriptions in managing chronic non-cancer pains, among others.
Risk factors for opioid overdose
Victims that entirely rely on opioids for various reasons are the ones who get significantly exposed to the risks of an overdose. The annual estimates by the WHO of annual deaths caused by opioids overdose currently stand at 0.65% among opioid-dependent persons. Non-fatal overdoses incidents are, however, more popular compared to the fatal ones since close to about 45% of drug victims risk nonfatal overdose incidents while 70% experience drug overdose risks, including fatal cases ( World Health Organization 2018) .
The individuals most likely to be exposed to the dangers of opioid overdose include those that inject opioids, those with opioid dependence following treatment cessation and detoxification, people mixing opioid intake with other sedative medications, and household members that possess opioid drug prescriptions. Similarly, people that are likely to witness cases of opioid overdose are the ones exposed to drugs, their relatives, and friends. Others include those whose occupations bring them to contact with overdose victims such as police, healthcare providers, and emergency service providers, among others. Some risk factors that are related to overdoses of prescribed opioids also involve high dosage prescriptions, a history of substance use maladies, male gender, lower socioeconomic status, and older age.
Emergency responses to opioid overdose
The escalating cases of mortalities associated with an opioid overdose can easily be managed. It is possible through offering basic life assistance and immediately administering naloxone to the victims ( Rudd et al., 2016) . Naloxone is a significant antidote for opioid overdose that efficiently corrects the harmful effects of the overdose when taken before due. It is commonly effective when administered through intravenous, intranasal, subcutaneous, and intramuscular means of intake. Naloxone hardly has any influence on people who have not taken any opioid substances. The general availability of naloxone is limited to healthcare practitioners. The drug is often scarce in many countries, especially in medical institutions and ambulances. It is only in Italy where Naloxone has been made available in pharmacies without a prescription.
Most overdoses are often witnessed by people close to the victims or their relatives. Thus easy access to naloxone may be effective in correcting overdose instances as they wait for professional medical attention. While such an approach of administering naloxone by the surrounding persons is an effective activity, afterward, comprehensive medical care should not be overlooked. Global programs initiated in the previous years of providing naloxone drugs to the public, including training of how to use it for the resuscitation of opioid overdose has proven to be an effective method of reducing the mortality rates caused by the problem. A recent study conducted in the United States to determine ways of combating opioid crisis revealed that approximately 50 000 naloxone kits distributed countrywide helped in reversing 10 000 overdoses cases. Such evidence is proof of effective methods of responding to opioid overdose cases in the country.
Prevention of opioid overdose
Other than minimizing the general drug use in the community, there are other specific methods of combating the issues of an opioid overdose ( Jones et al., 2015) . Some of them include minimizing the irrational prescription of opioids, limiting inappropriate over-the-counter sales and purchase of opioids, monitoring opioid prescription and dispensing in hospital facilities, and finally availing more opioid dependence treatment.
Conclusion
Opioid misuse continues to be a pressing issue in the country that should be addressed with serious concern. Patients on drug prescriptions become addicted after long periods of using them hence increasing their health risks such as respiratory depression and even death. It is, therefore, important for the public to be informed of these risks factors of opioid overdose and its emergency response methods. The use of an information sheet and a brochure can be an effective mechanism towards creating public awareness regarding opioid overdose.
1b) Brochure
OPIOIDS CRISIS SEMINARS
July 11 th and 25 th 2020
August 1 st and 22 nd 2020
September 5 th , 19th, and 26 th 2020
A collaboration between:
The County State Medicare Department
And
(Student’s learning institution)
Sponsored by :
The Obama Care Foundation
Matters of Concern
Awareness creation concerning opioid use.
Opioid overdose.
Risk factors for opioid overdose.
Emergency responses to opioid overdose.
Prevention of opioid overdose.
NOTE : All members of the public are invited to attend the seminar for quality learning and the sharing of important information.
References
Jones, C. M., & McAninch, J. K. (2015). Emergency department visits and overdose deaths from combined use of opioids and benzodiazepines. American journal of preventive medicine , 49 (4), 493-501.
Rudd, R. A., Aleshire, N., Zibbell, J. E., & Gladden, R. M. (2016). Increases in drug and opioid overdose deaths—United States, 2000–2014. Morbidity and mortality weekly report , 64 (50 & 51), 1378-1382.
Seth, P., Scholl, L., Rudd, R. A., & Bacon, S. (2018). Overdose deaths involving opioids, cocaine, and psychostimulants—United States, 2015–2016. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report , 67 (12), 349.
World Health Organization. (2018). Information sheet on opioid overdose. Retrieved on the world wide web at: http://www. who. int/substance_abuse/information-sheet/en .
