The Medford Chamber of Commerce and Mystic Valley Public Health Coalition extensively organized the seminar to encourage employers to be proactive in ending stigma surrounding opioid epidemic and substance abuse for their employees. The forum was addressed and advocated for prevention and wellness plans to assist employees with substance abuse disability. The panel urged employers to proactively safeguard employees from any opioid-related signs and therefore, create prevention plans for them.
The Attorney General Ms. Ryan referring to the non-opioid related fatalities appeared to be relieved for not having any overdose related death for straight ten days. She mentioned the number of deaths due to opioid overdose in 2016 was 126, but this year
Prescription and pharmaceutical drug abuse is beginning to expand as a social issue within the United States because of the variety of drugs, their growing availability, and the social acceptance and peer pressure to uses them. Many in the workforce are suffering and failing at getting better due to the desperation driving their addiction.
Many people dislike the term ‘addiction’ in relation to drugs or other substances, particularly as it infers that a person is powerless over their use of a particular drug or in some circumstances, a number of substances. Whilst others maintain it is this powerlessness that is the foundation of diagnosis and treatment – that treatment is not possible without recognition of addiction itself as the ‘problem’ being addressed. The professional and public perception of addiction is complicated. There are many approaches and models to explain addiction, the role of the addict, and their environment. This essay will compare and contrast two of these approaches, the medical/disease and the social model. Initially this essay will describe the origins of each model, and follow by explaining their respective strengths and weaknesses, and finish with an overview of the key differences between them. This essay will conclude by demonstrating that a holistic approach, and a cross-pollination of these models is the most successful approach to treating addicts. As is the case for all diseases, there are multiple treatment options, and as ever person is different, the results in each individual cannot be predicted.
Heroin addiction continues to be an important public health problem for the Edgewater homeless and America today. Addiction compounded with poor living conditions and reduced access to healthcare creates a syndemic that requires social and healthcare programs working together to confront the problem. Structural violence stigmatizes homelessness and heroin addiction, which negatively impacts addicts’ health. Attitudes towards these people must be changed so that all Americans are afforded the basic healthcare they deserve as human beings.
"NIH Study Finds Chronic Alcohol Use Shifts Brain's Control of Behavior." NIH News Release. 22 Aug. 2013: n.p. SIRS Government Reporter. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
Opioid addiction is a tragedy that affects countless of Americans on a daily basis. Almost everyone is acquainted to someone, who suffers from opioid addiction. Everyone, but specifically family and friends of the victims to opioid addiction need to understand why their loved ones are so susceptible to becoming addicted to opioids. The word opioid in itself is complex to define, but it entails a variety of prescription medications. Most opioids are used as pain management medications and qualify as CII medications also known as narcotics. They are supposed to be used on an “as needed” basis, but that is not the case for many users of opioids. Opioids cause great fear in the health community because they are easily addictive and
Attention getter: As quoted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an average of three Oregonians dies every week from prescription opioid overdose, and many more develop opioid use disorder.
In 2016, 2,816 Canadians died from opioid-related causes, and that number will likely surpass 3,000 in 2017. People across the nation are seeing their loved ones die for reasons that could have been avoided.
In the United States, opioid addiction rates have majorly increased . Between 2000-2015 more than half a million individuals have died from Opioid overdose, and nearly 5 million people have an opioid dependence which has become a serious problem. The Center for Disease control reports that there are 91 deaths daily due to opioid abuse. Taking opioids for long periods of time and in
On the typical day, over 90 people will die at the hand of opioid abuse in America alone (National). In fact, as of 2014, nearly 2 million Americans were dependent and abusing opioids. The Opioid Crisis has affected America and its citizens in various ways, including health policy, health care, and the life in populous areas. Due to the mass dependence and mortality, the crisis has become an issue that must be resolved in all aspects.
According to the Institute of Medicine, “Stigma is most likely to diminish as a result of public education and broader acceptance of addiction as a treatable disease” (The Stigma of Addiction 1). By reducing the stigma of opioid addiction, young adults will no longer fear judgement when seeking treatment.
Over the years, substance abuse in the United States has become a persistent issue affecting many individuals. In 2008, it was estimated that 17.8 million Americans over the age of 18 where substance dependent (Epstein, Burns, & Conlon, 2010). Many of these individuals being affected are nurses. Ponech (2000) stated that "approximately 10% of the nursing population has alcohol or drug abuse problems, and 6% has problems serious enough to interfere with their ability to practice" (as cited in Talbert, 2009, p.17). Studies show that nurses have a 50% higher rate of substance abuse compared to the rest of the public (Epstein et al., 2010). Among the many factors that contribute to the nurse’s issue of substance abuse, accessibility to drugs in the work environment has played a significant role. Substance abuse among nurses is an arising issue in need of attention, it is alarming to know that patient safety and care is in danger when a chemically impaired nurse is in the workplace.
The rate of death due to prescription drug abuse in the U.S. has escalated 313 percent over the past decade. According to the Congressional Quarterly Transcription’s article "Rep. Joe Pitt Holds a Hearing on Prescription Drug Abuse," opioid prescription drugs were involved in 16,650 overdose-caused deaths in 2010, accounting for more deaths than from overdoses of heroin and cocaine. Prescribed drugs or painkillers sometimes "condemn a patient to lifelong addiction," according to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This problem not only affects the lives of those who overdose but it affects the communities as well due to the convenience of being able to find these items in drug stores and such. Not to mention the fact that the doctors who prescribe these opioids often tend to misuse them as well. Abusing these prescribed drugs can “destroy dreams and abort great destinies," and end the possibility of the abuser to have a positive impact in the community.
Employee Assistance Programs can be traced back to the late 1930s as a response by the business community in dealing with occupational alcoholism. During the early 1900’s problems with alcohol impaired worker grew dramatically and drinking on the job became a social norm. These issues ranged from significant injuries or death to simple loss of production or productivity. This became a major problem for industrial industry that was seeing a major boom in production at this time. Therefore, alcoholism became the main focuses for these businesses and job-based alcoholism programs became prevalent. By 1939, the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) movement had begun to spread throughout the Midwestern and Northeastern United States. People in “recovery" began to eagerly share their experiences with other workers and the “work rescue” movement began (Trice and Schonbrunn, 1981). Later, formalized programs were developed with a desire to reach a larger number of employees. Led by the Yale Center of Alcohol Studies, a nine step plan for implementing an occupational alcoholism program: 1) education of top management, 2) assignment of program responsibility to an existing department, preferably the medical department, 3) selection and training of a coordinator to administer the program, 4) mobilization of internal intervention resources, 5) development of a company-wide policy
The ingestion of alcoholic beverages for their enjoyable effects is a custom which has been around for thousands of years, and alcohol continues to be a popular drug because of its short-term effects (Coleman, Butcher & Carson, 1984). An enormous amount of damage can be attributed directly to alcohol abuse as a result of lost jobs, accidents caused by drunk drivers, and so forth (Maltzman, 2000). Alcohol also compounds other problems--an estimated 25% to 40% of hospital patients have problems caused by, or recovery delayed by alcohol abuse (Maltzman, 2000). Clinical psychologists spend about one-fourth of their time dealing with people who are suffering in part from alcohol or other substance problems (Vaillant, 1995). Although alcohol problems have been around for so long, it is only recently that these problems have begun to be associated with medical or psychological difficulties.
Before I start to discuss the various ways to get control of substance abuse I