Objective. To design an educational game that will increase third-year professional pharmacy students' knowledge of diabetes mellitus disease management and to evaluate their perceived value of the game. Methods. Faculty members created an innovative educational game, the diabetes escape room. An authentic escape room gaming environment was established through the use of a locked room, an escape time limit, and game rules within which student teams completed complex puzzles focused on diabetes disease management. To evaluate the impact, students completed a pre-test and post-test to measure the knowledge they've gained and a perception survey to identify moderating factors that could help instructors improve the game's effectiveness and utility. Results. Students showed statistically significant increases in knowledge after completion of the game. A one-sample t-test indicated that students' mean perception was statistically significantly higher than the mean value of the evaluation scale. This statically significant result proved that this gaming act offers a potential instructional benefit beyond its novelty. Conclusion. The diabetes escape room proved to be a valuable educational game that increased students' knowledge of diabetes mellitus disease management and showed a positive perceived overall value by student participants.

What is already known on this topic? More than 90% of people in the United States live within 5 miles of a community pharmacy. Pharmacists deliver important public health services such as vaccinations, point-of-care testing, and chronic and acute disease prevention and management. These services are and will continue to be critical in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. What is added by this report? The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated needed roles for the community pharmacist in an emergency, including continuity of provision of medications, providing preventive services, and ensuring health equity. Along with medication management, pharmacists provide infectious disease mitigation, point-of-care testing, and vaccinations. What are the implications for public health practice? Community pharmacists are essential contributors to public health and play a key role as the United States continues to combat COVID-19, especially among populations with health disparities.

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Introduction: Continuing education is needed for health professionals to take an active role in reversing the opioid crisis. This report describes the results of training to promote behavioral change by altering pharmacists' perceptions toward opioid misuse through the provision of content-related education. Methods: A free 3-hour opioid misuse and overdose prevention training program was developed and delivered to 43 community pharmacists. The training consisted of five modules addressing the disease of addiction, risks associated with opioids and accidental overdose, the role of naloxone, opioid dispensing and consultation pearls, and effective ways to communicate with patients about opioids. A paired analysis was performed from a 12-item survey delivered before and after the training program to assess changes in pharmacists' perception. Results: Five items showed a statistically significant (P < .05) change in perceptions after the training. Significant changes were reported for opioid addiction being outside the control of the affected person, the role of family history in prescription drug abuse, the value of counseling to support patients at risk of prescription opioid abuse, the value of screening tools, and the importance of viewing things from the patient's perspective. Correlation analysis identified that pharmacists' views on their role in the fight against the opioid epidemic and their agreement in the value to screen for opioid misuse were most closely related to the desire for behavioral change. Discussion: A training program influenced pharmacists' attitudes and perceptions about targeted behaviors and associated with the value of screening for opioid misuse or overdose risk and counseling patients about the benefits and risks of opioids.

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