Naloxone Saves Lives

You have the opportunity to save lives in your community.

The makers of Narcan are shipping out hundreds of thousands of doses of naloxone across the United States. It will be available over the counter in pharmacies without the need for a prescription. This update in policy has the possibility of vastly changing the way we respond to opioid overdoses in our country. While there is opposition to Narcan being available without a prescription, many of those reasons are rooted in unhelpful and unfair stigma of those suffering from Opioid Use Disorder. The data overwhelmingly tells us that naloxone saves lives. So, let’s break down some of the facts:

Naloxone can reverse an overdose from opioids, including heroin, fentanyl, and prescription opioid medications.
There are two forms of naloxone that anyone can use even if they haven’t been trained: a nasal spray and an injectable.
Naloxone won’t harm someone if they don’t have opioids in their system. But if they are overdosing from opioids, it can restore normal breathing within 3 minutes.
Those who administer naloxone to someone who appears to be suffering from an opioid overdose are protected under Idaho’s Good Samaritan Law.
Carrying naloxone is no different than carrying an EpiPen for someone with allergies. It adds an extra layer of protection for those at risk of an overdose.
You can find naloxone across the state of Idaho by using this online tool.

Here at Cornerstone Whole Health Care Organization, we’re all about solutions that are sustainable and make real impacts. We work with communities and organizations to prevent, treat, and manage opioid use disorders (OUDs). We’re working to break down stigma around OUD, recovery, and intervention by educating and providing information and resources that have been vetted and verified by our team of clinicians, public health administrators, and healthcare professionals.

We’ve compiled a list of resources to help you learn more about naloxone and how greater accessibility will impact our community.

Wanting to share this information more widely? We’ve created a Naloxone Resource Media Kit with printable assets such as takeaway cards, rack cards, flyers, and posters. Available to all, for free, to use, print, and distribute. The wider availability of naloxone is only one part of the puzzle that is OUD. Our resources are designed to educate and empower everyone to support recovery efforts.

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Our takeaway cards are designed to be used in conjunction with naloxone to provide essential information such as signs of opioid overdose, and what to do and how to administer naloxone in case of an overdose.

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We’re excited to be collaborating with organizations and institutions making an impact around opioid use disorder. If you’re interested in learning more, have questions, or are seeking resources, you’ve come to the right place. We’re so happy you’re here and ready to make a positive impact on your community.

September 1, 2023 Health Data, Pharmacy, Substance Use Disorder

Pacing with Our Patients: Recovery & Opioid Use Disorder

By Sabrina Sherwood, Pharmacy Consultant

I recently ran my first half marathon and have my first full marathon in one month. I wouldn’t call myself a “runner”, but I find myself like a moth drawn to flame of the running community. The grit, the perseverance, the preparation. After finishing a race, I like to sit at the finish line.

It’s easy to get caught up in cheering for the first-place finisher but I find the real awe in seeing how many people cross the finish line with grimacing eyes, subpar posture, and sweat stains that will take weeks to resolve.

These are the runners who run not to get first place, but to accomplish their goal of finishing – and the running community has stepped up to help the majority. How? Race pacers.  A race pacer is a runner that keeps a consistent pace throughout a run. These are usual veteran runners – experts who can easily maintain a run speed for a long duration of time. Often, large groups of runners will find their pacer at the start line and run alongside them for the entirety of the race to ensure they achieve the goal time they seek.

Healthcare teams are in a strategic position to pace with patients in many ways – but particularly as it relates to opioid use. Over 27 million people were reported to be suffering from opioid use disorder in 2016. Of those suffering, few have the resources to seek help, and even less are receiving treatment. Providers (including partners such as behavioral health specialists and pharmacists) are highly skilled members of the healthcare team. Pacers are experts of running, and similarly, our healthcare partners are experts in therapy management.  

Like a marathon, our patients with opioid use disorder are not looking to secure the single first-place title of “best sober person to exist”. They just want to cross the finish line. There are a few ways that we can pace with them:  

Visualize  

Helping our patients develop and adhere to a plan that will maximize potential to reach their goals. Patient with opioid use disorder may have competing psychosocial and health related needs that should be factored in before setting up a “training” plan. Let’s help them see the path of least resistance to their finish line.  

Bring them into the Network  

We do better together. Studies show that running persistence improves in those who have a running social network. Pacers bring encouragement and motivation to runners when they’re tempted to quit. Similarly we can support our patients by providing them with their own healthcare partner “pacer” and other resources.

Match the Cadence   

Let’s pace with our patients to meet them where they are at. As a provider, it is easy to sprint to the finish line and waiting for our patient to catch up. We are tempted to tell the patients exactly what needs to be done for them to improve their health and expect them to adhere to our plan. Our patients aren’t robots – they need water breaks, and they need time to tie their shoes occasionally. Let’s pace by continually assessing their progression and helping them move closer to their goal.  

August 18, 2023 Health Data, Pharmacy, Substance Use Disorder, Uncategorized

Unintended Harm and Intentional Hope

By Tyler Hemsley, PharmD, C-WHO’s Chief Officer of Healthcare Innovation

The scramble to understand and strategically tackle the opioid epidemic continues. It’s still difficult to know the full depth and breadth of the unintended harm that has been caused.  Even as we try to gain our footing through appropriately limiting and tapering opioid prescribing, increasing availability of naloxone and educating patients and caregivers on its life-saving impact; we continue to see overdose deaths rising at an alarming rate – almost entirely due to high potency and synthetic products like fentanyl.  An incredible demand has been created over the past 15-20 years, and the response to a diminishing, or more tightly regulated supply line appears to be to seek cheaper, more dangerous, illicit alternatives.  

 There are so many contributing factors in this atrocity, and I don’t see the benefit in finger pointing, so I won’t. 

I find it more helpful to take a thoughtful look at the current state.  The circumstance is neutral.  We are where we are.  So where to from here?  

Our goal in the rEASON project is to coordinate with existing stakeholders on the care team, incorporate feedback and representation from the patient/caregiver community, and help providers navigate the difficult discussions around pain control. 

The hope is that through these efforts, we can improve the current state as it stands, meeting people where they are, and offering help.

In addition, we hope that by normalizing these conversations we can have an impact upstream, as so many programs have shown is possible – limiting or eliminating opioids in favor of a multi-modal pain control plan.  

There is real hope in this.  It doesn’t completely reverse all the unintended harm, there’s no hope in changing or reversing the past.  This is a course correction for the future.  It is a better path.  Intentional hope and systematic progress build positive momentum.  I hope you can feel it too.  Please follow the links to learn more about rEASON and other transformational projects currently underway at C-WHO.  For more resources, check out our Resource Library.

July 12, 2023 Pharmacy, Substance Use Disorder