Live Session with Q & A November 12, 2020 10:00 am EST Confirm Attendance
Background: Attempts to mitigate the opioid abuse epidemic in North America have resulted in an abundance of policies aimed mainly towards control of drug supply. Drug utilization research (DUR) tools are useful in assessing these policies; however, the framing of research questions for evaluation throughout the continuum of the health policy process requires further considerations for correct causal inference and for successful translation of results to stakeholders. Lessons learned from the evaluations of opioid policies can inform future studies in other areas.
Objectives: We aim: 1). To provide an overview of the health policy process as applied to the rapidly evolving challenges of the opioid crisis. 2). To assess strengths and limitations in both established and emerging novel policy evaluation methods, and accompanying measurement challenges for opioid-related research. 3). To examine applications of these methods in current studies estimating effects of drug-related policies using examples from the US and Canada. Overall, this symposium will benefit researchers and policymakers interested in learning strategies for addressing methodologic challenges when designing a policy evaluation.
Description: The symposium will be divided among four panel speakers, with 20 minutes each. The opioid crisis will serve as the motivating case throughout the symposium, where a sampling of the multitude of policies and respective methodological considerations are woven throughout each presentation. First, Amie Goodin will introduce policy theory through the lens of a legal epidemiology framework to set the stage for planning evaluations in the context of the opioid crisis. Juan Hincapie-Castillo will then give an overview of DUR policy evaluation methods that can be applied to specific research questions using real-world data, where methodological challenges in evaluating policy implemented at the health-system, state, and/or national levels are addressed. Gerald Dal Pan will then discuss measurement challenges in policy evaluation when estimating opioid utilization as well as the outcomes associated with the opioid and related poly-substance abuse epidemic. Lastly, Mina Tadrous will provide applied examples of Canadian policy evaluations, outlining the unique challenges associated with traditional (e.g., time series strategies, difference-in-differences techniques) and emerging novel policy evaluation methods (e.g., the potential for dynamic compartmental modeling techniques, structural break models and machine learning applications). The session will conclude with a 10-minute Q&A from panel members.
