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Last week, news emerged that Ottawa teenager Cole Nicholls, who went public a year ago about his struggles with addiction, had died of a suspected overdose. Nicholls had been outspoken about the toll the opioid crisis is taking on young people in Ottawa. In the days ahead, we will look at the progress being made and the challenges that remain in the battle against opioid addiction and fentanyl.
Young people seeking help for opioid addictions are getting it faster than they did a year ago, when news of teen overdose deaths in Kanata hit like a bombshell.
“It was shocking for some people. I don’t think we would have seen the same attention without those tragedies,” says Mike Beauchesne, executive director of the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre.
A lot has happened since then. The Champlain Local Health Integration Network announced funding for a “rapid access opioid treatment program” for youth and parents, to be administered by Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services. The program acts as a triage system that shunts teens youth with opioid problems and their families to the front of the queue. It was part of $1.7 million in ongoing funding for opioid treatment services announced by the LHIN last November. Meanwhile, every high school is now equipped with naloxone kits. The Dave Smith centre, furthermore, has funding to help pay the salaries of two nurse practitioners.
Still, there’s a lot left to be done.
“We are really in a state of paying catch-up,” Beauchesne said.
Here’s what has happened in recent months:
• The Rapid Access Opioid Treatment (RAOT), at first a pilot project, has received ongoing funding, says Marion Wright, CEO at Rideauwood, which also offers addictions counselling at 54 schools. RAOT’s triage system recognizes that while more teens abuse cannabis and alcohol, using opioids can be far more deadly. In the past, clients waited four to six months to be assessed, the same as someone who identified any other addictions problem. That’s now down to about 48 hours.
“This has been a bit of a game-changer,” Wright said.
Knowing that help is on the immediate horizon is important to teens, she said. “If you’re calling about yourself, it takes a lot of courage. People know that something is going to happen, and they’ve made a commitment.”
Since RAOT was introduced last fall and March 1, there have been 36 referrals, with 33 people admitted to programs.
“It has decreased wait times and increased access. That’s very big,” says Wright. “If you’re a parent and you’re concerned about your teenager and you called us in the past, we would have put you on a wait list for four to six months. It’s a totally different path to care.”
• Ottawa’s high schools have also taken the step to make naloxone kits available and to train staff in their use.
Every Ottawa-Carleton District School Board high school has two doses of nasal spray and a disposable breathing mask. Two people in every every high school were trained last August, in addition to 13 volunteers. The Ottawa Catholic School Board also has nasal spray kits available at each school. Last fall, staff were trained by Ottawa Public Health, but the board now has an in-house first-aid trainer certified by Ottawa Public Health.
The kits have not been used so far, the school boards say.
• In January, the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre launched a rapid access addiction medicine clinic for patients 16 and older with support from the Champlain LHIN in January. The clinic offers immediate access through walk-in hours — no referrals needed — Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8 to 11 a.m., said Dr. Kim Corace, director of clinical programming and research. ( Youth can call also 613-722-6521 ext. 6158 )
But opioid use is often not the only condition that needs treatment, said Corace. Research at The Royal shows that young people seeking treatment for opioid use problems often have severe and complex substance use and mental health problems. Concurrent mental-health and substance-use disorders are the norm rather than the exception. That means it’s important to break down traditional “silos of care” when it comes to treating young people, she said.
“There is a need for an integrative and co-ordinated system of care for youth with opioid use disorders that brings together substance-use services, mental health services, harm-reduction services, primary care and public health.”
More also needs to be done about increasing residential treatment spaces, Beauchesene said. Over the past eight years, there has been no increase to residential treatment capacity for youth in the province, and the vast majority of addiction treatment providers have not received an increase in their base funding, he said. “This has got to change, and soon.”
The Dave Smith centre, which already accounts for one-third of all anglophone residential youth treatment in the province, has plans to amalgamate its two existing facilities and to open a $12-million treatment centre that will increase the number of beds to 30 from 24. About $1.5 million has already been spent to prepare the site in Carp.
There’s fundraising underway, but the project is still about $4.5 million short. With that up in the air, it’s impossible to say when the new centre will open, Beauchesne said.
jlaucius@postmedia.com
查看原文...
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Young people seeking help for opioid addictions are getting it faster than they did a year ago, when news of teen overdose deaths in Kanata hit like a bombshell.
“It was shocking for some people. I don’t think we would have seen the same attention without those tragedies,” says Mike Beauchesne, executive director of the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre.
A lot has happened since then. The Champlain Local Health Integration Network announced funding for a “rapid access opioid treatment program” for youth and parents, to be administered by Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services. The program acts as a triage system that shunts teens youth with opioid problems and their families to the front of the queue. It was part of $1.7 million in ongoing funding for opioid treatment services announced by the LHIN last November. Meanwhile, every high school is now equipped with naloxone kits. The Dave Smith centre, furthermore, has funding to help pay the salaries of two nurse practitioners.
Still, there’s a lot left to be done.
“We are really in a state of paying catch-up,” Beauchesne said.
Here’s what has happened in recent months:
• The Rapid Access Opioid Treatment (RAOT), at first a pilot project, has received ongoing funding, says Marion Wright, CEO at Rideauwood, which also offers addictions counselling at 54 schools. RAOT’s triage system recognizes that while more teens abuse cannabis and alcohol, using opioids can be far more deadly. In the past, clients waited four to six months to be assessed, the same as someone who identified any other addictions problem. That’s now down to about 48 hours.
“This has been a bit of a game-changer,” Wright said.
Knowing that help is on the immediate horizon is important to teens, she said. “If you’re calling about yourself, it takes a lot of courage. People know that something is going to happen, and they’ve made a commitment.”
Since RAOT was introduced last fall and March 1, there have been 36 referrals, with 33 people admitted to programs.
“It has decreased wait times and increased access. That’s very big,” says Wright. “If you’re a parent and you’re concerned about your teenager and you called us in the past, we would have put you on a wait list for four to six months. It’s a totally different path to care.”
• Ottawa’s high schools have also taken the step to make naloxone kits available and to train staff in their use.
Every Ottawa-Carleton District School Board high school has two doses of nasal spray and a disposable breathing mask. Two people in every every high school were trained last August, in addition to 13 volunteers. The Ottawa Catholic School Board also has nasal spray kits available at each school. Last fall, staff were trained by Ottawa Public Health, but the board now has an in-house first-aid trainer certified by Ottawa Public Health.
The kits have not been used so far, the school boards say.
• In January, the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre launched a rapid access addiction medicine clinic for patients 16 and older with support from the Champlain LHIN in January. The clinic offers immediate access through walk-in hours — no referrals needed — Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8 to 11 a.m., said Dr. Kim Corace, director of clinical programming and research. ( Youth can call also 613-722-6521 ext. 6158 )
But opioid use is often not the only condition that needs treatment, said Corace. Research at The Royal shows that young people seeking treatment for opioid use problems often have severe and complex substance use and mental health problems. Concurrent mental-health and substance-use disorders are the norm rather than the exception. That means it’s important to break down traditional “silos of care” when it comes to treating young people, she said.
“There is a need for an integrative and co-ordinated system of care for youth with opioid use disorders that brings together substance-use services, mental health services, harm-reduction services, primary care and public health.”
More also needs to be done about increasing residential treatment spaces, Beauchesene said. Over the past eight years, there has been no increase to residential treatment capacity for youth in the province, and the vast majority of addiction treatment providers have not received an increase in their base funding, he said. “This has got to change, and soon.”
The Dave Smith centre, which already accounts for one-third of all anglophone residential youth treatment in the province, has plans to amalgamate its two existing facilities and to open a $12-million treatment centre that will increase the number of beds to 30 from 24. About $1.5 million has already been spent to prepare the site in Carp.
There’s fundraising underway, but the project is still about $4.5 million short. With that up in the air, it’s impossible to say when the new centre will open, Beauchesne said.
jlaucius@postmedia.com
查看原文...
