As the nationwide opioid abuse epidemic leaves hospitals scrambling for a solution, some Massachusetts providers try to connect addicts with the social support they need to recover, according to The Patriot-Ledger.
Rather than sending addicted patients home with lists of resources such as detox facilities, the publication reports that Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth and Weymouth’s South Shore Hospital, the region’s two biggest hospitals, have developed programs that connect the patients directly with social workers and treatment resources.
If that doesn’t do the trick, hospital staff make calls or follow-up visits to the patients to try to nudge them in that direction, according to the article. In the Beth Israel program, which has operated since October with $3.7 million in state funding, nurse, social workers and addiction counselors discuss treatment options with emergency overdose patients. If the patient refuses the initial treatment outreach, a separate program pairs police officers with hospital social workers to conduct follow-up visits, the newspaper reports.
“Eighty to 85 percent of the people we go to the next day get some kind of help, whether it’s a bed that night or a program in the next week or two,” Plymouth Police Chief Michael Botieri told the Patriot-Ledger. “There’s a stigma and they’re afraid to step forward and ask for help. They want help but you need to bring it to them.”
Police in Weymouth make similar follow-up visits, according to the article, and under South Shore’s program, 42 of 55 emergency room overdose patients have agreed to enter treatment.
- here’s the article