ONLINE RESOURCE FOR PATIENTS CERTIFIED TO USE MEDICAL CANNABIS

Abstract

Background: In recent decades medical cannabis use has grown and continues to grow in Hawaii, nationally, and internationally; since 2017 it has been available from medical cannabis dispensaries for Hawaii patients (“329 Card” holders) certified by a qualified medical practitioner. The current practice is for a qualified primary care practitioner (APRN-Rx or MD) to facilitate access to medical cannabis for their patients, but these practitioners generally provide minimal or no education regarding mechanisms of action, methods of use, varieties, and how and where to obtain medical cannabis leaving these details to be researched by patients themselves or by the education provided by medical cannabis dispensary staff.Purpose: To implement and assess the benefit of an evidence-based quality improvement project, in the form of an educational website, for a target population of elderly (65-year-old and older) patients to help them understand and better utilize and access medical cannabis. Methods: Project outcomes were measured via a short patient satisfaction survey with 2 biographic and 3 satisfaction rating questions plus 1 open-ended question linked to a website containing a range of information on topics related to medical cannabis use in Hawaii. Results: A total of 4 (n = 4) patients responded to the survey, 2 men and 1 woman between ages 50 and 64, and 1 woman between ages 35 and 49. A mean grade of 4.7 out of 5 “stars” was the aggregate satisfaction rating from the 3 quantifiable survey questions. Conclusion: The results suggest that a medical cannabis educational website could be beneficial to patients new to medical cannabis. While the results from the survey warrant furthur investigation of this or similar educational interventions for new to medical cannabis patients, due to the small sample size and lack of survey respondents in the target age range this project’s results are not transferable or translatable to larger populations.