Program Review of Naloxone Training Within the Wisconsin Department of Corrections’ Community Corrections Division

Abstract

One of the fastest growing drug problems in the United States is the abuse of opioids (United States Department of Health & Human Services, 2018). With the rising overdose rates, the criminal justice system may offer a pivotal role in the decrease of overdose deaths through opioid overdose recognition and naloxone administration training (World Health Organization, 2014). Training evaluation based on the Effectiveness Theory find significant predictors of training effectiveness and retention to be correlated with the training program, age, and employment tenure (Cowman & McCarthy, 2016). This thesis’ research question is, “Do demographics correlate to training retention for opioid overdose recognition and naloxone administration?” Utilizing the training provided by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Division of Community Corrections’, training retention was measured through an online questionnaire assessing variances in the demographic variables of age and employment tenure. Based on the Effectiveness Theory, this study predicts employee demographics will influence training retention. Specifically, this study predicts the older age category of employees, as well as those with longer iv employment tenure, will have better retention of training about applicable knowledge of dealing with an opioid overdose. This study found that overall tenure of employment was not related to training retention and missing data prevented an analysis of age. However, it was found that overall respondents retained approximately 75% of the information received during the training