09-15-2024 GAR - Flipbook - Page 18
18 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Sunday, September 15, 2024
Medical approach
continued from page 6
protect from overdose, and improve
medication adherence while offering
patients flexibility of not having to
dose daily” Chance says.
CAM also has a team of peer recovery coaches. “Our peer recovery
coaches are primarily stationed in
the emergency department, and they
sit right outside of triage,” says Herbert. “They are often the first staff to
see or to talk to a patient identified
with substance use disorders. They
assist the medical provider in determining the patient’s needs to provide
a continuum of care.”
Herbert explains that peer recovery coaches are knowledgeable in the
medication management programs
throughout the community and can
coordinate referrals for long term
medication treatment programs,
counseling or therapy. “Sometimes
the patients also are in need of a residential or housing program, so the
peer recovery coaches make calls at
all hours of the day to find the right
place for each individual patient,”
Herbert says. Additional services include assistance with food and transportation.
Despite an overwhelming consensus from the medical community that drug and alcohol addiction
All in the family
continued from page 10
is a medical condition, no different
than cancer or heart disease, unfortunately, in some circles there is still
a stigma attached to it. CAM has
worked tirelessly for almost 30 years
to eliminate that stigma, and its new,
expanded facility allows it to further
that mission.
“We put an emphasis on the medical management of addictions. Patients are able to receive their medication in a private dosing room, instead
of at the traditional dosing windows.
Our office resembles a primary care
physician’s office, you would never
know that this is an opioid treatment
program,” says Chance. “In the hospital, our patients are admitted on
the medical units with other patients
with chronic medical conditions like
hypertension or diabetes, there is no
separate detox unit.”
Dr. Kofi Owusu-Antwi, CAM’s
medical director, hopes CAM is “an
integrated system of care that provides state of the art chemical dependency services and is recognized as
the provider of choice by consumers
and the healthcare industry.”
For more information,
call 410-225-8240 or
visit UMMidtown.org/CAM
These loved ones often feel a lot of
guilt because they feel they failed this
person. It often then turns to resentment and anger over the maladaptive
behavior of the addicted person. This
can range from taking money from
loved ones to being highly verbally
aggressive or abusive. But it is important to remember that the physically addicted person’s tolerance of
a substance increases with use, so
over time, they need to use more and
more to get the effect they crave.
Often a loved one will see the oncoming train wreck before the addicted person realizes there is a problem; however, learning how to talk
with this person in a productive way
will take help and guidance. A good
place to start is with Al-Anon, which
was started to help family members
and friends of those who suffer from
alcoholism, but it is useful no matter
what the addiction is. There, in a safe
place, experiences can be shared and
support given as new coping skills
are learned.
Another good place to start is
your health provider. Whatever plan
you are in, they will have resources to help you and the person with
the addiction. In addition, the Sub-
stance Abuse Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA) can give
information and referrals to resources in your area. This applies to both
the addicted person and their friends
and family.
These resources can help a person
to recognize the progressions of the
additive behavior and then how to
have a conversation about it with the
person caught in the addiction. “The
addictions community are all connected in a network,” says Dalton,
“so if one doesn’t provide a certain
aspect of care, then they can refer
you somewhere else where they can.”
Letting the person know that you
care for them is important, but family and friends should prepare themselves if the person is just not ready
yet to deal with their addiction. They
can support each other until that
person reaches the threshold where
they are ready for help.
Although addiction problems are
usually thought of as adult problems,
it is becoming even more prevalent
among young people. It is important
to have a talk with them about the
dangers of various substances, especially if there is a pre-disposition for
addiction in the family.
