2021 People's Opioid Summit Sessions

Learning Objectives: Examine the role of medication to treat opioid use disorders during pregnancy and the post-partum period Identify at least three ways to help support pregnant people in treatment and recovery Define attachment and its role in the long-term development of children living with parents who use substances

This session will provide an overview of efforts to expand access to naloxone across North Carolina. We will also briefly review how to respond to an overdose, including the administration of naloxone.

Fifty-three percent of people who misuse prescription medications get them from friends and family. Learn the five steps that you personally can take to prevent prescription drug misuse.

This presentation will provide an overview of the NIH HEAL Initiative and discuss how the initiative is engaging individuals with lived experience to ensure the research is informed by the needs and concerns of the communities affected by the pain and opioid public health crises.

Romie & Gregory Nottage have over two decades in combined experience in working with marginalized populations. One of the most constant themes revolves around how we perceive others, and how that perception can have a profound – and often detrimental – impact on people as they travel through systems to “help” them recover from traumas around homelessness, drug use, and incarceration. Romie will bring her unique clinical lens and explain the power others’ perceptions can have on us, and the healing affect community and connection can have.

There is no such thing as a single drug epidemic. Learn how and why substances are commonly used together, what the dangers are, and how you can protect yourself and your loved ones.

This workshop will focus on trends of self-medication as it relates to physical pain, medical diagnoses, emotional trauma, and mental health. Speaker will discuss stigma, predisposition, genetics, environmental factors, and correlation all of these with patient needs. The workshop will explore best care practices in treating addiction and self-medication, from the spectrum of early intervention to crisis-related response.

Objectives for the presentation:

• Examine and explore preconceived notions of harm reduction approaches and interventions
• Identify and explore foundational harm reduction tenets and principles
• Discuss drug user stigma and strategies for using person-first language
• Become familiarized with the history and origins of the harm reduction movement
• Identify micro, mezzo, and macro-level harm reduction interventions, strategies, and policies for people who use drugs

Rodney Poole and Jeff Strickland will be discussing their work with the North Carolina ABC Commission’s Talk it Out Campaign, focused on preventing underage drinking. Underage drinking and alcohol misuse are both issues that often overlap or intersect with the topic of opioids, and we want to be part of the conversation.
Jeff will share some brief history about the ABC Commission’s control model and our agency’s goals, as well as a history of the Talk it Out NC campaign. Rodney will go more in-depth on the subject matter and will share some of the insights and expertise he provides in his educational programming.

The Rapid Responder Post Overdose Response Team (PORT) is a public health strategy designed to reduce drug overdose deaths through a partnership with Wake County Public Health, Wake County EMS Advanced Practice Paramedics (APPs), and Certified Peer Support Specialists (CPSS) employed by Healing Transitions. CPSS, individuals in recovery from substance use disorder, and APPs follow up with EMS involved individuals 24 to 72 hours after overdose to encourage them to engage in treatment and recovery supports.

Learners will be able to:

• Describe elements of the Rapid Responder PORT Program
• Explain functions of program partnerships
• Define barriers to care

Why do so many who experience addiction not ask for help? When they do seek care, why are services so hard to access? When our loved ones finally access support, why is it so often inadequate and inappropriate? Stigma surrounding people who use drugs and people experiencing substance use disorders is partly responsible for diminished help-seeking, discriminatory barriers to services, and the prevalence of poor-quality addiction treatment. Now is the time for people on all pathways to freedom & wellness to put aside their differences and unite to address deliberately the biases against people caught in America’s overdose & incarceration crisis.

This training begins with an overview of the concepts of structural oppression, unconscious bias, and stigma and how these issues are persistent problems for the provision of quality care. Participants will gain tools to mitigate the perpetuation of health inequities through self-reflection, empathy, communication skills, and solidarity through allyship. This training will also provide an update on the current state of health and health care disparities on both a national and local level.

JoCo Angels – We are Johnston County NC Families who are victims of addiction, JoCo EMS, mental health providers as well as recovering addicts who have formed a group to start raising awareness and supporting parents and addicts involved in the opioid crisis.

This presentation will examine our society’s collective response to the current overdose epidemic and how we can change this response. Harm Reduction offers us a philosophy and approach that departs from the punishment, paternalism, and criminalization that defines our current approach. This Harm Reduction-informed approach has great potential to change the way PWUD and people with SUDs are treated and offers interventions for people anywhere on the spectrum of substance use rather than only those ready for certain specific interventions.

As part of our youth & student track, Shane will discuss not only being part of a team but part of a community of support, which is so crucial to helping kids get a great start in sports and beyond!

Policy affects us all. Learn what legislation, local option, and prevention have in common. Additionally, this session will explore potential hot topics for upcoming consideration at the State & National levels.

We will discuss how to start a recovery high school, the ups and downs of the journey, what we learned after 2 years of operation, how a recovery high school is more than just a school- it is a hub of resources for young people in recovery. Recovery High Schools strengthen the continuum of care for young people in recovery from substance use and mental health disorders. A parent or current/former student may also share their experience.

Social media has become a part of the societal norm. With numerous ways to connect to your friends, family, organizations, and so much more. Social media opens another door as well, one that increases access to substances for our youth and young adults. In this session we will discuss some of the ways that the access to obtain substances is growing and what you as adults should be aware of that may be happening on these platforms.

Collegiate recovery programs (CRPs) provide on-campus addiction recovery support services to students in or seeking recovery. Dating back nearly 50 years, the growth of collegiate recovery the past decade has seen the number of programs increase from just 14 in 2012 to over 150 today. This session will explore the history of the field, the current landscape, and give attendees an insight into what a collegiate recovery program looks like at various institutions.

This session will cover the power of personal narrative and local organizing to combat the overdose epidemic.