INITIATIVES TO ADDRESS OPIOID-USE DISORDER

The NEOMED Department of Psychiatry works with other NEOMED academic departments and clinical- and community-based partners to address the largely unmet treatment needs of the 2.1 million Americans who have opioid-use disorder. This includes the escalating numbers of Americans who are part of the opioid-overdose epidemic.

Developing Systems-Level Solutions

Sequential Intercept Mapping a community-based application of the Sequential Intercept Model, was recently adapted in Ohio to address the complex challenge of the opioid crisis. Sequential Intercept Mapping for Opioids provides a framework for criminal justice, mental health and addiction treatment providers, family members and opioid-involved individuals, and other stakeholders to develop community-based responses that emphasize prevention, regulation and treatment for opioid dependency with its primary goal is to reduce opioid overdose deaths. In addition to addressing the opioid epidemic, the Department of Psychiatry’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of Excellence facilitates Sequential Intercept Mapping to address serious  mental illness in the criminal justice system, serious emotional disability in the juvenile justices i in Ohio.

In Ohio, Sequential Intercept Mapping for Opioids was piloted in a county with one of the highest opioid overdose death rates. The success of the pilot project led to the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services’ decision to use 21st Century Cures Act funds to provide Sequential Intercept Mapping for Opioids to communities with the highest numbers of number of opioid-involved deaths.

With the creation of the Substance Use Deflection Initiative, the CJ CCoE continues impacting communities by providing harm reduction and pre-arrest diversion technical assistance to build strong partnerships through thoughtful planning and coordination of programming for community response teams such as Quick Response Teams (QRTs). The initiative is helping communities build stronger teams by identifying the most effective procedures, processes and practices and unifying these system-wide.

Related

Substance Use Deflection Initiative