Opioids Use Disorder and Medication Assisted Recovery
September, 19, 2023
Noon CT-1:00 PM CT
Webinar
A confirmation message and Zoom link will be sent immediately upon registering for the program. If you do not receive the confirmation with the Zoom link, please contact the IOMC office promptly by email at iomcstaff@iomc.org.
The number of deaths related to substance abuse is on the rise throughout the Chicago area. Last year saw the highest number of fatal opioid overdoses ever recorded in Cook County, increasing to 2,000 deaths from 1,935 in 2021. Most of those deaths involved the synthetic opioid fentanyl. [Chicago Tribune 8.28.2023]
The Opioid over dose crisis continues to worsen despite initial services changes from incarceration to treatment and the start of a Harm reduction methodology for reducing harm in substance use. Although initial services addressed the rural, white nature of the Overdose crisis, pre-COVID a shift to urban Black death was seen, which was exacerbated by the pandemic. Understanding the area of need for change, in prevention, harm reduction, and treatment access is imperative to stem the continued rise in overdose deaths in urban Chicago, and indeed, across America.
Learning Objectives
By attending this program, you will be able to:
- Describe the current Opioid overdose environment in Cook County and greater Illinois
- Acknowledge current efforts at a local, state, and national level for opioid education, overdose remediation, and treatment engagement for persons who use drugs.
- Identify barriers and facilitators to continued progress in effectively addressing the Opioid Overdose crisis and obtaining needed outcomes.
Speakers
Tom Allen, MD, Executive Medical Director, Behavioral Health, Government Programs, Health Services Corporation (Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) and Chief Psychiatrist, BCBS Medicaid Program.
Dr. Tom Allen currently is an Executive Medical Director of Behavioral Health, Government Programs, at Health Care Service Corporation, and chief psychiatrist for the BCBS Medicaid program in Illinois. After graduating from college at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, he completed medical school, along with a residency in psychiatry and a fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine, at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. He worked for approximately ten years as a psychiatrist in community mental health and private practice before transitioning to managed care. He is board-certified in both psychiatry and hospice and palliative medicine.
Tanya R. Sorrell, PhD, PMHNP-BC, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Director, Rush Substance Use Disorder - Center of Excellence, Assistant Director, Great Lakes Region NIH NIDA Clinical Trials Network, Co-chair, Illinois Harm Reduction and Recovery Coalition, Rush University College of Medicine.
Dr. Tanya Sorrell has doctoral training is in rural and urban underserved Mental Health and Substance use services research, and a minor in Complementary and Integrative Behavioral Health practices for Latino groups. Dr. Sorrell is the Director of the Illinois SUD- Center of Excellence and on the Illinois Substance Use Advisory Council developing similar programs for SUD access, care and outcomes improvements in Illinois. Her publication record reflects translational research interests in increasing behavioral health care and services utilization using cultural based approaches to improve the overall behavioral health/substance outcomes of rural/urban under-served populations. She is a licensed and board-certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner who specializes in child, adolescent, and adult psychiatric medication provision.
Suggested Reading
Dydyk, Alexander M.; Nitesh K. Jain; Mohit Gupta, Opioid Use Disorder, National Library of Science, July 21, 2023.
Kubzansky, C. and Yin. A. As opioid overdose deaths grow in Chicago area, so does push for harm reduction and ‘safe consumption’, Chicago Tribune, Aug. 28, 2023
Questions? Contact IOMC by sending an email to: info@iomc.org or call us at 312.709.2685.
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