This section of the toolkit was developed using information gathered through interviews and focus groups with treatment provider stakeholders, who represent individuals working in the realm of in- and out-patient substance use disorder treatment facilities.
Below you will find the promising overdose response strategies identified by treatment providers in Washtenaw County. Each promising strategy is detailed below, along with stakeholder identified barriers to accomplishing the proposed strategies, and how the System for Opioid Overdose Surveillance (SOS) may assist stakeholders’ ability to accomplish each promising strategy.
Promising Strategies
Strategic Outreach
While some treatment providers believe they have limited resources to conduct activities outside the treatment realm, others note suspected opioid overdose data can be used for strategic outreach with existing clients to warn them about increased incidents in suspected overdoses in particular locations.
Treatment providers with peer recovery support specialists can incorporate using near real-time overdose data into their daily practice by making an extra effort to reach individuals who are still using when there is an uptick in incidents, potentially indicating a bad batch of illicit opioids.
Treatment providers also note the creation and use of tailored outreach and educational materials through the use of suspected overdose report demographic data such as age, gender, and race.
A stakeholder explains that, “Somebody’s who’s 55 or older, probably doesn’t want the same message as somebody 25 or younger, so we could target where are these ages occurring and are we hitting the demographic of age when we present information?” These materials can be disseminated to their demographic specific treatment groups.
Access to near real-time suspected opioid overdose location and demographic data provides treatment providers with a previously unavailable resource for determining where and how to developmentally and culturally tailor response strategies.
“I mean, one of the things that stands out, if there’s like, been 5 hospitalizations within a day and the typical is 1, all of a sudden you start wondering is there a bad batch going around, especially if it’s a certain location, what are we seeing? We would notify our clients to make them more cognizant. I mean, while we would love every one of our clients to be in recovery and not using, the reality is that’s just not how it works. They slowly get to that point based on their own path and we need… it’s our job to help keep them safe during that process.”
Treatment Provider Stakeholder
Coordinated Response & Communication
Opportunities for collaboration within the treatment community are also noted by stakeholders as a method for expanding their services reach within the community. Potential methods include creating coordinated treatment groups in underserved areas with other clinics and implementing family-based support services to prevent future opioid use within the younger generation. Stakeholders discussed the multi-generational impact of opioid use, and described that, “If someone overdoses, the odds are there is a family in crisis. When you’re talking about minor children, you’re talking about potentially a high-risk population for a) developing it themselves either through socially learning it or b) other needs of the family that aren’t being met as a result. It would provide us ample opportunity to reach out and create programming or services or resources to these families.” This demonstrates how the effects of opioid overdose span beyond the individual user and how data provided by the opioid overdose reports can be used to inform where to implement community and family-based support services.
Treatment providers are cognizant of the many organizations within the community, and emphasize the need for strategic response planning using the different approaches and strengths of stakeholders to address the opioid epidemic. One stakeholder explains that, “Our focus is on facilitating recovery, and [organization name] approach is, you know, harm-reduction, you know, and-and they do some things that are recovery-oriented, and we do some things that are harm-reduction oriented and, I believe the community is better off for those approaches…coexisting. …My preference would be having people specialize in different paths and approaches and having multiple approaches and paths coexist within the community.” This highlights a need for a variety of services in order to increase access without the loss of specialization within the community to meet specific, individual needs.
“My preference would be having people specialize in different paths and approaches and having multiple approaches and paths coexist within the community.”
Treatment Provider Stakeholder
Barriers
Treatment providers often see their role as a limitation to enhancing opioid overdose response efforts. Those who provide treatment point out that most of their interactions with patients are following an overdose or providing services and resources to those who are still actively using substances. Some treatment providers acknowledge implementing response and prevention services as a part of their main practices, however, there are barriers to utilizing these new aspects.
Specific funding mandates impact treatment providers’ ability to implement enhanced opioid overdose rapid response and prevention strategies. While many treatment providers would like to add to or change current services, fulfilling priorities set by current funders are a top priority in order to maintain funding to provide resources and services. Barriers to resources and capacity interfere with some treatment organizations’ ability to engage in both providing treatment services and being actively involved in the response and prevention aspects of the opioid epidemic. Treatment providers also recognize stigma as a barrier in this epidemic.
“So, we don’t have the kind of resources to say, you know, we wanted to go out and target these kind of high overdose areas. We’re not… we’re not in a position to do that.”
Treatment Provider Stakeholder
Near Real-Time Data Impact
Treatment providers with peer recovery support specialists can incorporate using near real-time overdose data into their daily practice by making an extra effort to reach individuals who are still using when there is an uptick in incidents, potentially indicating a bad batch of illicit opioids.
Access to near real-time suspected opioid overdose location and demographic data provides treatment providers with a previously unavailable resource for determining where and how to developmentally and culturally tailor response strategies.