New faculty member and Generation Rx team member, Tessa Miracle, PhD, not only brought with her expertise when she came to Ohio State, but also the last year of a five-year Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drug Misuse (SPF Rx) grant. This partnership is a perfect pairing with the goals of Generation Rx.

The SPFRx grant is awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Ohio is one of 25 states to receive the grant. This grant is unique in that it builds in planning and capacity building to help ensure programs can continue following the end of a grant. The grant aims to raise awareness of drug misuse, promote safe medication storage and disposal, increase the use of the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS) within medical communities, and enhance infrastructure in prescription drug misuse prevention.

“I’m excited to be at Ohio State and sharing my area of expertise,” said Miracle. “By collaboratively working together we can achieve our goals and help make medication safety and misuse a priority for the State of Ohio.”

The grant has several coalitions that are subgrantees to carry out the work with many of them utilizing Generation Rx resources to promote safe medication practices. The free, evidence informed turn-key resources allow the coalitions to focus on their mission while sharing important prevention messages with their respective communities.

In addition to education of the general public through toolkits, Generation Rx is teaming up with the Colleges of Nursing and Veterinary Medicine to adapt the Generation Rx Ambassadors program for these professional disciplines. The program, an online certification program that trains participants in how to deliver Generation Rx resources and messaging, will tailor these programs to the specific needs of nurses and veterinarians to ensure safe medication practices across disciplines.