Resources and guidelines for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians
Opioid assessment
ACP developed the tool below to support pharmacists in conversations with individuals using opioid medications. You may wish to print the tool and keep copies available in your consultation room or at the pharmacy counter.
Pharmacist Assessment: What you need to know
The brochure Understanding my pharmacist's role in assessing medication risk was developed to help pharmacists explain their role to patients. Email our communications team to request copies of the brochure for your pharmacy.
Opioid Agonist Therapy
Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) guidelines
Effective July 1, 2021
Naloxone
Providing naloxone as an unscheduled drug
Controlled drugs and substances
Controlled drugs and substances exemption guidelines
External resources
Here are some external resources you may want to use when treating individuals using opioid medications:
- Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse (CRISM) – National Opioid Use Disorder Guideline
- Pharmacist's virtual communication toolkit: engaging in effective conversations about opioids (NAPRA)
- CDC checklist for prescribing opioids for chronic pain
- Navigating opioids for chronic pain
- Non-opioid treatments for chronic pain
- CADTH pain evidence bundle
- CADTH evidence bundle for opioids
- CDC pocket guide: tapering opioids for chronic pain
- McMaster University National Pain Centre
- Pain Society of Alberta – Resources for providers and patients
- Canadian Journal of Pain – The official journal of The Canadian Pain Society (Open Access)
- RxA GoPharmacist Learn – Online professional development modules
- Patients First – A Practical Approach to Implementing Opioid Assessments Into Practice – Part 1: A Patient’s Story
- Community-based Naloxone – Information for the Pharmacist
Related articles
Questions about how to incorporate the new opioid guidelines into your practice? Many of the questions you have are likely answered in the Link articles below.
- New guidelines for the controlled drugs and substances exemption (October 13, 2021)
- Pharmacist uses her naloxone kit knowledge to reverse an overdose (September 2, 2020)
- Supplementing opioid assessments with Chat, Check, and Chart (March 4, 2020)
- Reducing opioid reliance with alternative treatments (May 14, 2018)
- Opioid success stories (May 14, 2018)
- Implementing opioid assessments into practice (March 7, 2018)
- Message from the Registrar: Understanding the Opioid Guidelines (October 25, 2017)
- Opioid Guidelines: are you ready for the October 1 implementation date (September 27, 2017)
- What are ACP's expectations for documentation? Part 5 of our opioid guidelines series (September 13, 2017)
- Assessing individuals using opioid medications: what you need to know (August 30, 2017)
- Why pharmacist assessment is critical to managing the opioid crisis (August 16, 2017)
- Establishing professional relationships: exploring a new guideline for opioid medications (July 20, 2017)
- New guidelines for patients using opioid medications (July 6, 2017)