The Challenge

Since 2018, opioid overdose deaths have increased 160% in Washington State, with about 2 people dying every day on average. To address this problem, the Washington State Department of Health worked with C+C on a campaign to build awareness and drive action to prevent opioid overdose deaths.

The Solution

The campaign was informed by six phases of research with priority audience groups, including people who use opioids. The cornerstone of the campaign was a video that told the story of someone using naloxone to save a friend’s life. Campaign deployment included using media to raise awareness of naloxone as a tool that can reverse an opioid overdose, driving people to a website to learn about how to recognize the signs of an overdose and how to intervene, and the promotion of free mail-order naloxone in priority counties.

The Result

The campaign led to a 98% increase in naloxone orders during the campaign period and a 14% increase in naloxone awareness.

Supplementary Material