What's New at CCI? Eliminating stigma in addiction treatment
Center for Care Innovations
Strengthening the Health and Well-Being of Historically Underinvested Communities
Welcome to "What's New at CCI?" — the bi-weekly newsletter from the Center for Care Innovations (CCI) where you can take in the latest news, updates, and ideas on health care x innovation x resilience and more! Get notified of future editions, delivered straight to you on your LinkedIn feed.
The opioid epidemic is one of the deadliest health crises facing our country. In this issue, find out about our work to end opioid addiction and overdoses in our program?Addiction Treatment Starts Here.?Plus, how we've incorporated "yarning circles" into this cohort.
Also, we have a limited number of tickets for our?Safety Net Innovation Summit?this fall — so save your spot ASAP!
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Addiction Treatment Starts Here
What Is Addiction Treatment Starts Here??Over the last 25 years, more than 560,000 people in the United States?have died from opioid overdoses, both illegal and prescription painkillers.?As the death toll continues to soar, public health experts are urging clinics to get lifesaving medications into the hands of people with opioid use disorder. In CCI's program, also known as ATSH, we work with primary care providers to expand the use of critical FDA-approved medications for addiction treatment and opioid use disorder, including methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone, along with counseling and behavioral therapies.
What We've Done: In the six years that CCI has been running our evidence-based ATSH programs, we've worked closely with more than 100 primary care clinics and dozens of community groups to expand this urgently needed treatment.?The program also seeks to erase the stigma of addiction, which is a barrier to treatment for countless Americans. Dr. Joe Sepulveda, a San Diego addiction psychiatrist involved with our program, explains that?addiction is a chronic disease?and should be treated without stigma or judgement — just like any other disease.
What's New —?Yarning Circles:?Yarning is an approach used by Australian aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to share stories and knowledge, one that centers narrative and encourages respect, trust and deep listening without judgment. With the guidance of Dr. Melanie Goodchild, Anishinaabe (Ojibway) of the moose clan, a designer and innovator with more than 30 years of experience working with First Nation communities,?ATSH has added?yarning to its sessions with program participants.?
Along with its other work, ATSH has held three yarning sessions, with the first focused on people sharing their "sacred knowledge bundle" by talking about what life and their teachers have taught them so far. The second storytelling session was about stigma, which is a strong barrier to addiction treatment. ”We all hold stigma in a lot of different ways,” said CCI Program Manager Nicole Godreau Soria . “And some people shared that they were still holding stigma against people for using drugs instead of showing each other grace. This led to a really powerful discussion on how to change and recreate this mental model."? The final ATSH yarning circle, led by Goodchild this May, provided space for a conversation on grief and sustaining wellness in addiction treatment. "Melanie held space for processing the loss that accompanies this work, and we discussed how we can support each other and our teams... It felt very healing," said one ATSH participant.??
The results have been transformative, says Godreau Soria. "Yarning has created really special and authentic ways of sharing," she said. "We get to converse with each other in a really human way — not like ‘I am CCI and you are your role,' just you and me as people…It allows people to connect in a different way, a relational way. Participants are very friendly with each other, they have inside jokes with each other; there’s a lot of camaraderie. We’ve heard people in the program are connecting outside of ATSH, really supplying and building community with each other. And it’s all based on storytelling."
? In Case You Missed It: Some Popular Stories about Our?Addiction Treatment Stops Here?Program
Safety Net Innovation Summit
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ACES Health Champions Gatherings
??? May 29 at 12pm PT | REGISTER NOW
California Telehealth Resource Center Summit
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?? READING:?California should?expand its pandemic shelter program Project Roomkey, which saved lives by housing vulnerable people in empty motel rooms during the pandemic,?according to a new study commissioned by the California Health Care Foundation. The longer people stayed in the temporary housing, the study found, the more likely they were to find permanent housing when they left.
?? WATCHING:?A TV news segment on Oakland's Roots Community Health , a powerhouse serving those most in need. Founded?20 years ago as a mobile clinic, the community-based health center now has a staff of 250 and serves thousands of low-income patients each year.?"We believe in our community, we hire from our community, we train folks from our community — that's our secret sauce," says founder, Noha Aboelata, MD .
?? SHARING:?The CDC Foundation is requesting proposals from community-based organizations who serve people who are pregnant or postpartum to help?raise awareness about important health warning signs that can happen during and after pregnancy.?Up to six awards of $50,000 each are available. Apply by May 31.
??? RSVP-ING: California Quality Collaborative (CQC) is launching the?Behavioral Health Integration – Children and Youth Collaborative Learning Exchange, a nine-month program bringing together provider organizations experienced in integrating behavioral health services into primary care to support these patients. Learn more at the recruiting webinar on June 5 at 12pm PT.
???CELEBRATING:?CCI Senior Program Manager Kathleen Figoni, MS-HCA , who along with former CCI president Veenu Aulakh was among the co-authors of an article for the?Journal of General Internal Medicine! The article investigates both barriers and supports for telemedicine among safety-net primary care clinics serving patients with limited English proficiency during the pandemic.?
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