Bridging the gap: Increasing awareness of sex differences in opioid addiction using social media platforms

Authors

Yuwen Cheng, BA, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook UniversityFollow
N. Khatchadourianm MPH, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
J. Esguerra, MA, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
E. Seeley, BSE, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
Y. Abushukur, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
M. Feldman, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
E. Randall, BS, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
C. Cheah, MD, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University

Files

Description

HONORABLE MENTION

Background: Current efforts to combat the opioid epidemic in the United States do not take into account the sex differences in opioid response, prescription, use, and addiction. There is a need for medical professionals and the general public to understand these differences to properly prevent, address, and treat opioid addiction. Healthcare professionals and patients often use the Internet and social networking websites to access and share medical information. These platforms provide an innovative way to educate these groups on various topics in medicine. The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) created the Opioid Addiction in Women Task Force to positively impact care for women with opioid addiction.

Objectives: Increase health literacy surrounding sex differences in opioid addiction in the general public and healthcare providers via social media platforms

Methods/Research: The AMWA Opioid Task Force consists of physicians and medical students across the country who meet virtually each month. With guidance from supervising physicians, educational infographics, pamphlets, and videos are created to facilitate the dissemination of complex scientiffc data in a simple and engaging manner. Information is subsequently shared via social media platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, where they can be easily accessed by healthcare providers, medical students, and the public.

Conclusions/Impact: This is one of the few organizations with national exposure that highlights sex and gender differences in the opioid crisis and aims to increase health literacy for both the general public and health care providers. We have successfully distributed information regarding sex differences in opioid addiction during Women’s Health Week 2020 on the national AMWA website, Instagram, and Twitter. Our future plans include producing and sharing videos on YouTube about opioids, addiction, and pain management, especially in women. We hope to encourage current and future physicians to initiate discussions surrounding sex/gender-speciffc health, speciffcally in opioid addiction.

Publication Date

9-2020

Keywords

opioid addiction, social media, amwa

Comments

Presentation: 5:00

Recommended Citation

Cheng, BA, Yuwen; Khatchadourianm MPH, N.; Esguerra, MA, J.; Seeley, BSE, E.; Abushukur, Y.; Feldman, M.; Randall, BS, E.; and Cheah, MD, C., "Bridging the gap: Increasing awareness of sex differences in opioid addiction using social media platforms" (2020). Sex and Gender Health Education Summit 2020 – Virtual Meeting. 4.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/sexandgenderhealth/4