1,182 Marylanders died from unintentional drug and alcohol-related deaths in the first 6 months of 2019, according to the Maryland Department of Health and the state’s Opioid Operational Command Center. Baltimore City remains at the epi-center for overdose deaths from opioids in the state of Maryland. With one of the busiest Emergency Departments in the state, Saint Agnes Hospital sees the impact of these issues in our community every day.
The Saint Agnes Health Institute launched an important tool to help those suffering from substance use disorder in March 2018. Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment or SBIRT is an evidence-based practice used to identify, reduce and prevent problematic use, abuse and dependence on alcohol and illicit drugs.
A unique characteristic of this approach is the use of Peer Recovery Coaches—mentors who can share their stories of recovery from addiction. These individuals are trained to offer a helping hand and listening ear to patients who might be struggling with drugs or alcohol.
“Our patients appear more willing to engage in an honest dialogue about substance use when it is with a peer that lived that same experience.” says Dawn O’Neill, VP of the Saint Agnes Health Institute.
Social worker manager Cassandra Dobbs and Peer Recovery Coach Rodney James recently sat down with WYPR FM’s On the Record program to give listeners an overview of the peer recovery program at Saint Agnes.
“Every patient who comes into the Emergency Department is screened” for substance use disorders, Cassandra shares. “It spans across gender, socio-economic and racial groups. So, we want to use our best efforts to catch and implement services to our patients when they are within our walls.”
If a patient identifies with a certain score during screening by a nurse, a peer recovery coaches is called. Saint Agnes employees four peer recover coaches located within the ED and Labor & Delivery unit, and an Overdose Survivor Outreach Program worker. Coaches might conduct 15 interventions on an average day.
Rodney says that his experience of relapse and recovery can help him connect with patients who are considering treatment.
“They might think they can shoot one past me and I don’t know it,” Rodney says of interacting with a patient for the first time. “Then I’ll let them know and explain to them that, ‘Hey, I was where you are.’”
Listen to the full interview here.
