Florida Coalition Alliance and the AmerisourceBergen Foundation Team Up to Bring Digital Courses  Aimed at Combating Opioid Misuse to Florida High Schools

Tampa, Fla. - Today, Florida Coalition Alliance and the AmerisourceBergen Foundation announced a digital education initiative that aims to empower Florida high school students with the knowledge and resources to make informed decisions about prescription medications.

The organizations partnered with leading education technology innovator EVERFI, Inc. to provide an evidence-based curriculum to as many as 50 high schools across Florida at no cost to the schools. Through interactive scenarios and self-guided activities, the digital courses educate students on prescription medications, specifically focusing on proper use, the safe disposal of unused or expired medications and strategies for how to handle situations involving misuse and diversion.

One in five high school seniors report that they have misused prescription medications at least once, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Results from more than 50,000 students who participated in the EVERFI course last school year show a 49 percent increase in knowledge of drug safety, as well as improved outcomes in student ability to refuse to participate in the misuse of prescription medications. In addition, 71 percent of students agreed that the course made them more confident in their ability to intervene when they feel a friend may be misusing prescription medications.

“Prescription drug misuse continues to be a major issue in Florida, with the opioid epidemic being declared a statewide public health emergency in 2017,” said Amy Ronshausen, Executive Director of the Florida Coalition Alliance. “We are proud to partner with the AmerisourceBergen Foundation to equip our communities with a powerful prevention education tool for teens that will help us get upstream of the problem.”

Through the partnership, the Florida Coalition Alliance becomes a member of the Prescription Drug Safety Network, the nation’s first public-private initiative to combat prescription drug misuse by providing prevention education to schools. Network partners include a diverse group of state leaders, healthcare companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmacies and foundations. The AmerisourceBergen Foundation first joined the Prescription Drug Safety Network in February through an initial partnership the Prevention Action Alliance to bring this educational initiative to 30 high schools across Southeastern Ohio.

As part of its commitment to combat opioid misuse, the AmerisourceBergen Foundation partners with municipal entities and nonprofits at the local and national level to bolster efforts that address the issue through safe disposal, education around prevention and innovative solutions. In April, the Foundation launched an Opioid Resource Grant Program that enables the nonprofit to support and advance ideas from innovative nonprofits, in an effort to redefine best practices in the fight against the opioid epidemic.
 
“Prescription drug abuse has dealt a devastating blow to communities across the country, yet there are few initiatives aimed at positively preventing the abuse before it occurs,” said EVERFI CEO Tom Davidson. “We are extremely proud to welcome Florida Coalition Alliance to this network of leaders across multiple industries and thank them for their commitment to investing in prevention education. We are grateful for the AmerisourceBergen Foundation’s continued support and for their efforts to help us expand the reach out this program to schools across the country.”

About Florida Coalition Alliance
Florida Coalition Alliance, Inc. was established in September 2008 by the leaders of various coalitions across the state who recognized the need for a member organization that could provide impartial representation and assist in the capacity building of all coalitions across the state. The mission of the Alliance is to build upon the foundations of community coalitions in Florida by providing opportunities for training, networking, communication, collaboration, legislative advocacy, sharing of resources and resource development. For more information please visit http://flcoalitionalliance.org. 

About AmerisourceBergen Foundation
The AmerisourceBergen Foundation is an independent not-for-profit charitable giving organization established by AmerisourceBergen Corporation to support health related causes that enrich the global community. The Foundation aims to improve the health and well-being of its patient populations – both human and animal – by investing in its communities. Through strategic partnerships and community collaboration, the Foundation works to expand access to quality healthcare and provide sources to ensure prescription drug safety. For more information, visit www.amerisourcebergenfoundation.org.

About EVERFI, Inc.
EVERFI, Inc. is the leading education technology company that provides learners of all ages education for the real world, through innovative and scalable digital learning. Founded in 2008, EVERFI has certified over 16 million learners in critical skill areas with more than 4,300 partners in all 50 U.S. States and Canada. EVERFI is an industry convener that builds Networks to tackle the toughest social issues, including the Campus Prevention Network, a coalition of higher education institutions committed to campus sexual assault and alcohol abuse prevention; and the Financial Capability Network, a coalition of industry leaders dedicated to improving financial outcomes for communities across the country. Some of America’s leading CEOs and venture capital firms are EVERFI investors including Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Twitter founder Evan Williams, TPG Growth, and The Rise Fund.