Page 11 - Healthcare News Nov_Dec, 2020

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NOV./DEC. 2020 WWW.HEALTHCARENEWS.COM 11
ADDICTION CONT’D Glass Half Full
COVID-19 Poses Challenges for Substance-abuse Providers, Clients
By Mark Morris
Each year, as the weather becomes colder and the days get shorter, it’s not unusual to see an increase in demand for substance-abuse services due to seasonal depression. This fall and winter, however, counselors expected an even larger spike in the need for their services because of COVID-19.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, treat- ment centers in Massachusetts have seen an increase in opioid-related overdoses in the patients they treat — a problem exacerbated by the fact that the drugs have become more dangerous, said Steve Winn, president and CEO of Behavioral Health Network (BHN).
Health professionals believe the problem stems from interruptions in the worldwide supply chain of illegal drugs, making it harder to get heroin and synthetic opioids like fen- tanyl. As a result, what is being sold as pure heroin is often mixed with a more lethal type of fentanyl, causing the increase in overdoses and deaths.
“We don’t know if use is up, but we know the repercussions of use are more serious now than they were a year ago,” Winn told HCN.
“We don’t know if use
is up, but we know the repercussions of use are more serious now than they were a year ago.”
most recent data shows opioid deaths up in ev- ery county in the state.
People with sub- stance-use disorders often have a co-occur- ring mental-health diagnosis, a situation that may increase their COVID-19 risk, said Millie Rivas, clinical supervisor for Outpa- tient Behavioral Health at Center for Human Development (CHD), adding that several fac- tors can make people with substance-use disorders more vulner- able to coronavirus.
“Patients with a
co-occurring diagnosis
usually have a history of poor healthcare and poor nutrition,” she noted. “Add substance use to that, and they become a magnet for CO-
VID-19.”
In short, the stress and anxiety
caused by the pandemic — and
the economic turmoil that has followed in its wake — aren’t the only COVID-related factors mak- ing things tougher for those strug- gling with substance abuse and those striving to help them. Not by a longshot.
From a Distance
Edna Rodriguez says many people with a his- tory of alcohol abuse have relapsed during the pandemic.
in more isolation for vulnerable people who needed help.
While support has largely shifted to virtual appointments, Rivas and her staff have had to provide technical guidance, as well as their normal counsel to their clients.
“We’re doing things we aren’t accustomed to, such as training people how to use Zoom platforms and how to use their phone beyond Facebook so they can reach services and tele- health,” she said.
Working on virtual platforms allows CHD staff to interact in a more normal way with clients and observe their behavior. Rivas noted that meeting one-on-one would require cli-
Please see Providers, page 12
“In 2018 and 2019, Massachusetts had begun to flatten the curve on opioid overdoses, but now that curve has accelerated up.”
It’s not a regional problem, he added, as the
Even treating people with substance-use issues became more complicated
when the pandemic first hit. By following CDC guidelines to keep everyone safe, one-on- one support was severely reduced, resulting
STEVE WINN