FIGHTING TOGETHER COLLABORATION NEEDED TO END OPIOID EPIDEMIC ima UMADAOPExecutive DirectorMyrtle Boykin-Lighton recently attended a national heroin summit aimed at curbing the opioid epidemic that has swept the country.Ohio has been one of the state’s hardest hit, leading the nation in overdose deaths in 2014 when roughly 1 in every 9 heroin-related deaths in the U.S. happened inOhio.During one of the conference seminars, Boykin-Lighton was re ecting on her experience ghting on the epidemic’s front lines when the presenter oered a devastating statistic: only 10 percent of people will ever recover from a heroin addiction. “As I sat there and I listened to the speaker say this, I thought tomyself, ‘Not at my program.We’re going to do better than 10 percent,’”Boykin-Lighton says. “We strive every day to nd ways to help people get better.” Findingwhat workS Lima UMADAOP employs a laundry list of services to help those struggling to break free from active addiction. Programming includes intensive outpatient treatment, group therapy, supportive housing, and teaming new program participants with a recovery coach to guide them through the recovery process. While these services have led to countless success stories over the years, Boykin-Lighton knows the Lima UMADAOP can’t serve everybody. As she’s watched the opioid epidemic unfold, she says the solution has become clear: collaboration. “Over the years, I’ve realized that it takes more than just treatment, it takes more than willpower, it’s going to take a lot of things to help combat this,” Boykin-Lighton says. “at’s the support of the community, support of family members, treatment providers, housing providers, putting down the tursm and standing together to combat this.” L
Collaboration is king In the eort to link community stakeholders, Lima UMADAOP is already leading by example. If the Lima UMADAOP is unable to provide a particular service for a client, they can count on their numerous long-standing relationships with other community organizations to get that client the resources they need. By partnering on things like housing and community education, Lima UMADAOP has established a true community network in Lima. Boykin-Lighton says that cooperation leads to better outcomes for clients and a stronger community overall. “If you’ve got all of these support networks centered around you, the person has a better opportunity and better chance at recovery,” Boykin-Lighton says. “Havingmore access to grant funding for agencies is really important. It’s going to take everything, this is just not something that we can be in denial about.” If communities and agencies are not able to come together, Boykin-Lighton fears the eects could be devastating. She points to public health disparities like spiking rates of HIV and hepatitis as proof that addressing the epidemic needs to come with solutions both immediate and long-term.“is is going to greatly aect people’s life spans,”Boykin-Lighton says. “We will still be dealing with the outcomes of this years and years fromnow.”
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