Self Regional Adds Peer Support to Drug Overdose Response Toolkit
Self Regional Healthcare peer support specialists Steven Gause and Sophia Geary Mullins are helping patients struggling with addiction move from emergency care to treatment and recovery.
Even with all their training and experience, healthcare providers treating alcohol and drug overdose may not be able to offer one thing patients may need most – advice from someone who knows firsthand what addiction is really like. Self Regional Healthcare is using peer support specialists to help fill that gap.
With grant funding from the SC Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS), Self Regional leveraged its partnership with Cornerstone to create a program to improve the transition of overdose inpatients from emergency care to treatment and recovery. Cornerstone is a nonprofit agency providing addiction treatment for Greenwood, Edgefield, McCormick and Abbeville counties.
The grant funds a pilot program that embeds peer support specialists in Self Regional facilities to supplement care and ensure a “warm handoff” to a treatment option after discharge.
“A peer support specialist has been through substance abuse and now lives in recovery,” said Cyndi New, Self Regional’s Director of Community Health & Health Equity. “This is someone who can relate to what patients are going through because they have lived that experience,” which helps eliminate the stigma that can keep people from seeking help.
Although they undergo substantial training, peer support specialists are not addiction counselors. Their role is to help people navigate the process of finding a treatment option that can keep them out of the hospital and on the road to recovery, and their most valuable “training” is personal experience.
“I’ve been in treatment centers where counselors never did drugs a day in their life, so I really didn’t want to hear what they had to say,” said peer support specialist Steven Gause. His message to patients is, “I’m just like you are. I’ve been there, and I know what you’re going through.”
Being embedded in the hospital “gives us the opportunity to touch base with the patient and say, I see you, I support you, I understand,” said peer support specialist Sophia Geary Mullins. “We talk about what they’re tried in the past, I listen to their story, and guide them toward a healthier choice.” The experts at Cornerstone then connect patients with the best treatment option.
The goal is to identify patients who need referral and intervention and direct them to treatment, according to Betsy Royal, Prevention Specialist with Cornerstone. “In the past, if someone needed referral, they got a packet of information,” which may not help people who don’t have a phone, transportation, or any experience with treatment options.
Peer support specialists also understand that there’s no single path to recovery, and that failure is often part of the process. “Part of my message is, if you’ve made it through your failures, you’ve got something to learn from,” Gause said. “We were both lucky to make it through these failures. They’re the best teachers.”
As the nation’s drug overdose epidemic grows and worsens, the Self Regional/Cornerstone team offers advice for SC hospitals looking for solutions: Develop strong relationships with substance abuse agencies in your area, learn from best practices at other facilities, and involve peer supporters like Sophia and Stephen.
Over time, peer support programs more than pay for themselves in savings on emergency visits, hospitalizations and overdose treatments. More importantly, the programs can save lives.
About Self Regional
Self Regional Healthcare is a not-for-profit, regional referral hospital that provides care to residents of Greenwood, Abbeville, Laurens, Saluda, McCormick, Edgefield and Newberry counties.
About Cornerstone
A nonprofit established in 1973, Cornerstone provides prevention, intervention, and treatment services for substance use disorders as well as problem gambling, serving Greenwood, Edgefield, McCormick, and Abbeville counties.
About DAODAS
The Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS) is a cabinet agency that contracts with county alcohol and drug abuse authorities to provide most of the direct prevention, treatment and recovery services to SC citizens.