“Opioid use isn’t a matter of will power or being weak minded,” said Larry Pool, a participant with Heartland Alliance Health. “A person can have all of the positive factors in their life and still fall into using. Whatever created us, created us with a desire to live and thrive – but there’s always something just around the corner that can mess it all up.”
COVID-19 has disrupted our entire way of life, ruining the global economy, shifting our political discourse and unmasking societal injustices, and distancing us from our closest companions.
But one of the most insidious outcomes of this public health crisis has been the nation-wide amnesia over the OTHER public health crisis of our time, the opioid crisis. As public health officials and legislators shift their energy and resources toward the pandemic, the impacts of COVID-19 have only made life more difficult for those with substance use disorders. Little attention has been paid to the rising numbers of opioid overdoses over the past year, and even less energy has been used to try and combat it.
Through Heartland Alliance Health’s medically assisted treatment (MAT) opioid response program, our clinicians and social workers have built a long-term recovery process based in scientifically-proven treatments and a relationship-based outreach and case management program. But as COVID continues to ravage our way of life, it has also made increased the difficulty of connecting with and treating opioid users.
