Addressing Challenges in a Pilot Naloxone Distribution Program for BIPOC Communities in King County, Washington: A Community Practice Brief

Opioid overdose deaths disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, yet these communities often have less access to opioid education and naloxone distribution (OEND) programs. This Practice Report describes practice-based observations from a group of interdisciplinary partners who developed OEND programming for BIPOC communities in Seattle, Washington. Funded by Public Health–Seattle & King County (PHSKC), a pediatric primary care clinic partnered with community organizations to deliver culturally responsive OEND. To increase participation, the program integrated hands-only CPR training and embedded activities within existing community events. Across 12 community-based events, 879 naloxone kits were distributed, and participants received skills-based naloxone training. Efforts were retrospectively described using the RE-AIM framework to contextualize implications for policy and inform future practice. Framing naloxone education as a bystander intervention, like CPR, and delivering training within trusted community spaces may improve the reach of overdose prevention efforts for historically underserved populations.