A comparative study of stakeholder views on take-home naloxone services

Background: The limited research to date exploring views on naloxone provision has featured a range of stakeholders including staff, clients, family and carers. However, these studies are often conducted in isolated samples with limited scope for comparison. This study aimed to simultaneously explore and compare the views of clients, carers and professionals on naloxone distribution and the issues associated with it. Methods: Service providers, service-users and their family/friends were invited to complete a questionnaire which quantitatively measured their views on naloxone provision to service-users and their family/friends. Results: The majority of those surveyed felt that the supply of naloxone to service-users and their family/friends was a good idea and would help reduce drug-related deaths, but only after appropriate training on resuscitation techniques and administration of naloxone. Willingness to use the training and call an ambulance in an overdose situation were also high across all groups. Despite being at the highest risk of overdose, service-users were least likely to be aware of naloxone provision. Conclusions: There is strong support across stakeholders for the training and supply of naloxone to service-users and their family/friends. Despite this, awareness of naloxone and its uses, among service-users in particular, is limited and should be tackled as a priority.