Evaluating Scotland's 'How to Save a Life' mass media campaign

Drug-related deaths in Scotland are at record levels, and the majority of these deaths are related to opioid overdose. In September 2021, the Scottish Drugs Forum, in partnership with the Scottish Government, launched the 'How to Save a Life' campaign. The campaign is a multi strategy mass communication campaign aimed at raising public awareness of how to recognise and intervene when someone has a drug overdose (i.e. through accessing the opioid antagonist naloxone that reverses the toxic effects of opioids). It is the most wide-ranging public awareness campaign on drug death prevention ever conducted in Scotland. Furthermore, the current evidence base on the use of mass media interventions to prevent drug use is inconclusive. The aim of this project is to evaluate the 'How to Save a Life' campaign using a multi-method evaluation strategy. The evaluation will combine analysis of routine data (e.g. naloxone supplies) with bespoke data generated from a panel survey of a representative sample of the Scottish population. Data from media sources (broadcasters/websites) will also be utilised to provide a broad understanding of the impact of the impact of the campaign.