Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) Treatment and Harm Reduction Training Using AR (Augmented Reality) Technology

Over the last decade, drug overdose death has created an epidemic across the United States. In 2018, there were 67,367 drug overdose deaths—a decrease of about 4.6% from 2017—but almost 70% of the deaths involved opioids. While overdoses related to prescription opioids have decreased, synthetic opioids made up over two-thirds of all opioid-related overdose deaths in 2018. West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New Hampshire had the highest rates of drug overdose deaths in 2018. Furthermore, there are reported increases in overdose deaths that may result from isolation and access to drugs and treatment services related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this proposal is closely aligned with the mission of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to educate clinical providers and lay people on improving treatment and outcomes for those suffering from substance use disorders (SUDs), specifically in response to drug overdose.Many barriers have been identified for training providers on SUDs. Simulation-based training has shown promise for training providers about responding to drug overdose during Basic Life Support (BLS) training. However, simulation-based training is usually resource intensive and can be difficult to implement as current simulator technologies require facilities, staff, and technology support.Overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) is associated with improved outcomes for people experiencing opioid overdose as well as decreased drug use by people who participated in OEND programs. Increasing access to OEND could expand these positive results.This Phase II SBIR aims to further develop Lumis’s Augmented Reality Training on Overdose (ART-OD) within Lumis’s existing healthcare training simulator, the InSight Platform. The InSight Platform incorporates knowledge-based and hands-on training, requires less resources than traditional simulation, and supports broad deployment. The ART-OD prototype developed in Phase I met all benchmarks for success, including: (1) development and integration of an ART-OD prototype into the InSight Platform, (2) increased knowledge and attitudes towards recognizing and responding to an opioid overdose, and (3) positive feedback, usability, and market acceptance from various stakeholders.Mixed methods research will: (1) enhance the design of ART-OD developed in Phase I using an expanded pool of subject matter experts (SMEs) and integration with an existing prototype for training clinicians from the University of Florida College of Medicine (UCF COM), (2) integrating the enhanced design for ART-OD and the UCF COM prototype into an advanced ART-OD product, and (3) conducting pilot testing of ART-OD with potential end-users and stakeholders to validate training effectiveness and market potential.