• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
IRETA

IRETA

Institute for Research, Education & Training in Addictions

  • myIRETA
  • Contact Us
  • Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Our Organization
      • IRETA Staff
      • IRETA Board of Directors
      • Annual Reports & Financials
      • Partners and Clients
      • Staff Publications
      • Employment Opportunities
    • Addiction and Recovery
    • Our Work
  • Consulting
    • IRETA Consulting
    • Performance Evaluation
    • Program Assistance
    • Healthcare Organizations
    • Addiction Treatment Providers
    • Criminal Justice System
  • Education & Training
    • Education & Training
    • Scaife Medical Student Fellowship in Substance Use Disorders
  • Webinars
  • Blog
  • Resource Library
Home / Case Studies / Converting NIDA Notes to Online Course Modules

Converting NIDA Notes to Online Course Modules

Written by Jessica Williams | May 2, 2018

The Need

A wealth of knowledge exists about substance use and new research continues to be published regularly that explores the biological and behavioral reasons for at-risk substance use and how to effectively treat substance use disorders.

For a busy professional, reading lengthy primary sources on a regular basis is not typically a priority over other job duties.

The Solution

NIDA Notes is a digital publication that makes science more accessible, taking academic papers and turning them into articles, audio pieces, and videos that offer in-depth coverage of research findings on drug use and addiction.

IRETA developed and created two online courses, free to complete and suitable for addictions professionals, social workers, physicians, and the general public. These online learning modules used a multimedia approach to digesting and disseminating information about research and best practices to health care providers.

The Results

The free online courses are hosted on ireta.org and accessed by a wide range of professionals; a significant proportion are social workers, addiction counselors, and mental health counselors.

81% of the people who took the course and completed a brief survey rated its overall value as good or excellent and 86% found the course content useful at either a good or excellent level. Finally, 82% said they would probably or definitely recommend it to other people.

Feedback from students

“The information on adolescent opiod use in combination with other drugs was very informative and relevant to assessing risk levels in clients.”

“I enjoyed the case studies in which they asked how to proceed as it puts one in a reality based situation and makes you think about the situation happening in clinical practice.”

“the information was clear and kept my attention throughout.”

Epilogue

As of April 2018, the two courses have been completed by over 1,000 people.

Subsequently, a third online course was developed under the ongoing partnership with NIDA. It covers prevention and treatment for high-risk adolescent marijuana use.

The courses are online: Prevalence of Prescription Opioid Misuse [link]

Electronic Tools for Addiction Care [link]

Footer

IRETA

The Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addictions (IRETA) is an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit located in Pittsburgh, PA. Our mission is to help people respond effectively to substance use and related problems.

Contact

611 William Penn Place
Suite 403
Pittsburgh, PA 15219

P: 412-258-8565
F: 412-391-2528

LinkedIn Twitter Facebook YouTube

Copyright © 2023 IRETA