Wright Center Leader Selected To Sit On Pennsylvania Mental Health Planning Council Scott Constantini, associate vice president of primary care and recovery services integration for The Wright Center for Community Health, has been named to a three-year term on the Pennsylvania Mental Health Planning Council’s (MHPC) Adult Advisory Committee. The Adult Advisory Committee is one of three MHPC committees under the direction of the deputy secretary of the state’s Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS). Before he was promoted to his current role in 2022, Constantini served for six years as the director of behavioral health at The Wright Center for Community Health. In his current role, he collaborates with hospitals, school districts, public health agencies, government entities, and other community partners to expand access to and improve behavioral services across the region. He also sits on the Lackawanna County Overdose Fatality Review Committee under the direction of county District Attorney Mark Powell. Constantini has a strong track record of developing sustainable projects in the recovery and primary care realms, working with the state Department of Health Services, Department of Health, and Department of Drug and Alcohol programs through The Wright Center for Community Health’s Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence program, the Pennsylvania Coordinated Medication Assisted Treatment Program and a variety of other key programs designed to improve the behavioral health of Pennsylvanians. He also oversees various federal grants to expand addiction services, such as medications for opiate use disorder, to address the opiate overdose crisis. “I will represent The Wright Center for Community Health, our patients, and the region with integrity and pride to help guide the state on the future of mental health services across Pennsylvania,” he said. “As we know, there is a lot of work to be done.” The MHPC consists of three committees: The Children’s Advisory, Adult Advisory, and Older Adult Advisory committees. They aim to advise on a broad behavioral mandate that includes mental health, substance misuse, behavioral health disorders, and cross-system disability.
The Wright Center’s: Health Literacy Goes A Long Way Toward Long-term Wellness Here at The Wright Center, we’re big proponents of our patients serving as their own best advocates for their long-term health. So, naturally, we’re happy to promote awareness campaigns like Health Literacy Month. Observed throughout October, Health Literacy Month was started in 1999 by health communication expert Helen Osborne as a way for organizations and the general public to spread awareness on the need for patients to more efficiently process, analyze, and evaluate the information they are receiving from their health care providers. Through better health literacy, people can overcome challenges that result in bad health outcomes and in the process, create a more equitable world “where everyone can access high-quality care and achieve positive health outcomes,” according to the Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA), the group that oversees Health Literacy Month. According to IHA, studies have shown that a large number of patients have significant difficulty reading, comprehending, and acting on the health information provided to them, often due to the complexity of the information and a lack of clear, plainspoken communication on the part of the provider. In addition, basic literacy skills, language differences, age, disability, cultural context, and emotional responses can also hinder a patient’s health literacy, which can negatively affect health outcomes and costs. Thankfully, efforts like Health Literacy Month are helping to bridge that gap. In recent years, the event has become a worldwide initiative with numerous health care organizations, government agencies, literacy programs, colleges, professional organizations, businesses, social service organizations, and community partnerships hosting and collaborating on various health literacy events every October. Fitting into that theme, earlier this year The Wright Center joined an impressive list of organizations across the country when it was designated by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), an office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as a Healthy People 2030 Champion, affirming our longtime commitment to improving the health and well-being of all people. Applicants are selected on the basis of possessing a demonstrated interest in and experience with disease prevention, health promotion, health equity, well-being, and health literacy. One of the main focuses of the Healthy People initiative is addressing the social determinants of health (SDOH). These social conditions impact people in the places where they live, learn, work, and play and can affect their quality of life and health. Examples of SDOH include exposure to polluted air and water, exposure to racism and violence, and an individual’s level of access to things such as nutritious foods, educational attainment, job opportunities, safe housing, and outlets for physical activity. The Wright Center has made SDOH a critical part of our mission, and we’re firmly committed to providing exceptional integrated primary and preventive health care services to our diverse patient population throughout Northeast Pennsylvania. That means giving patients the tools they need to become their best advocates, including spending as much time as needed with them and their families and delivering information with clarity, purpose, and empathy. Our resident physicians also partnered with community organizations to address SDOH. For example, we delivered educational programming at the Indraloka Animal Sanctuary for regional children about the importance of healthy eating habits and collaborated with Child Hunger Outreach Partners to package nutritious food for regional children experiencing food insecurity. It is important to know that a little knowledge goes a long way. My colleagues and I at The Wright Center for Community Health are adamant about providing patients with the right information so they can make the right decisions about their health. For more information about Health Literacy Month, visit https://healthliteracymonth.org. Ayushi Jain, M.D., is a resident physician in The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Internal Medicine Residency program and serves as the chief resident liaison for The Wright Center for Patient and Community Engagement Board.
The Wright Center’s Mobile Medical Clinic to Offer Routine Physicals for Students The Wright Center for Community Health’s medical clinic on wheels, Driving Better Health. To promote the health of school-aged children and teens, The Wright Center for Community Health will begin offering a new service next month aboard its mobile medical and dental unit known as Driving Better Health. The Driving Better Health clinician team will provide students with routine physicals, piloting this expanded service in the Hazleton Area School District. The first event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, at the Hazleton Area School District Administration Building, 1515 W. 23rd St., Hazle Township. A second event at the same location, and during the same time span, is scheduled for Oct. 25. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Appointments are required. Please bring student’s identification and insurance cards, if available. The Wright Center will never turn anyone away due to inability to pay. For more information or to make an appointment for a student physical, call 570.230.0019 or visit TheWrightCenter.org. The Wright Center’s traveling clinicians noticed a need for this service as they conducted an ongoing series of back-to-school vaccination clinics at multiple school districts in Northeast Pennsylvania, said Christine Wysocky, co-director of certified nurse practitioner and physician assistant services for The Wright Center for Community Health. “In Hazleton, there’s a large pediatric population that has fallen behind in obtaining their vaccines and their yearly physicals,” she said, noting that Pennsylvania requires physicals for every child entering kindergarten, sixth and 11th grades, as well as any new students enrolling from out of state. “With our mobile unit, we can take these services to them.” In addition to physicals, participants at the Driving Better Health clinics on Oct. 17 and Oct. 25 will be able to get routine childhood vaccines for which they are eligible, including chicken pox; measles, mumps and rubella (MMR); polio; pertussis; tetanus, diphtheria and tetanus (DTaP); hepatitis B, meningitis; and the flu. COVID-19 vaccines and tests may also be available. For vaccine-only visits, appointments are preferred, but walk-ins are accepted. For these appointments, children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and should have identification, vaccination records and insurance information, if applicable. Uninsured children can be vaccinated under the federally funded Vaccines for Children program. For more information or to schedule a vaccine-only appointment, call 570.230.0019 or visit TheWrightCenter.org. A medical clinic on wheels, Driving Better Health allows The Wright Center for Community Health to treat patients where they are in Northeast Pennsylvania – from traditionally underserved city neighborhoods to rural areas. The 34-foot vehicle includes two fully equipped exam areas, which can be used either for health care services or dental services. The vehicle also has a wheelchair lift. Since it was put into service in late 2020, Driving Better Health has repeatedly been deployed to area schools, senior living centers, homeless shelters and other community gathering spots. The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) provided a grant that enabled The Wright Center to acquire and outfit the custom-built vehicle, which initially served to help populations of special concern during the COVID-19 pandemic by expanding access to coronavirus testing and vaccines.
The Wright Center News Read below to discover what Maria Kolcharno from the Wright Center says about The Healthy MOMS program. Maria Kolcharno, L.S.W., serves as director of addiction services for The Wright Center for Community Health. She supervises the daily operations of addiction-related services and grant-funded clinical operations, including the Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence. It’s hard for me to believe that it’s been five years since The Wright Center and a number of other regional community organizations launched the Healthy MOMS program as a way to meet the needs of families affected by substance use disorder. “The Healthy MOMS – it stands for Maternal Opiate Medical Support – program was established in 2018 to help pregnant women and new mothers overcome addiction and embrace a life in recovery. Participants are offered blanket services that include medication-assisted treatment and addiction services, counseling, primary health care, OB-GYN care, parenting tips, legal advice, and numerous other forms of support. It’s all about providing mothers with the strong foundation they’ll need for them and their children to enjoy a happy, healthy life. Named after a program of the same name in Ohio, Healthy MOMS was initially introduced as a pilot program in two counties, with initial grant funding secured by the Lackawanna/Susquehanna Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs. Today, the program assists women in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of community partners representing Northeast Pennsylvania’s health care, legal, housing, and social service organizations, the program has proven to be nothing less than a resounding success. Over the past five years, we’ve touched the lives of more than 430 babies and mothers. I’m very proud of the number of people our program has been able to assist, but I know we must continue working hard to reach more people in need. As we know too well, even under the most idyllic circumstances, it takes a village to raise a child. Adding the complex struggles surrounding opioid addiction to the equation can make pregnancy an even tougher time. With that realization in mind, our team focuses on our clients’ health, financial, legal, and personal needs. The program provides medication-assisted treatment, behavioral health, case management, and social services, ideally engaging mom and baby all the way up until the child’s second birthday. The evidence suggests that mothers who join the program and participate in recovery services well before their delivery dates are less likely to give birth to babies who experience neonatal abstinence syndrome, a potentially painful and costly medical condition caused when a newborn withdraws from opioids or other drugs that the baby had been exposed to in the womb. While Healthy MOMS has served mothers as young as 14, the program mostly works with women in their 20s and 30s. Many of our moms have said the program gave them a stronger sense of optimism and an increased self-confidence, and several others have noted that it led them to wanting to obtain their GED and pursue their education even further. Obviously, the program depends on solid funding to carry out its mission, and thankfully we’ve been fueled by generous grant support from private, state, and federal entities, including the AllOne Foundation, Robert H. Spitz Foundation, Direct Relief, the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. And, of course, our many community partners are hugely integral to our continued success. Five years in, we’ll keep that momentum going, continuing to build upon Healthy MOMS’ services and partnerships. It’s truly a privilege to be involved with a community program so worthwhile.” For more information on the Healthy MOMS program, call 570-955-7821 or visit www.healthymoms.org. Read below to discover what Maureen Litchman from the Wright Center says about healthy aging. Maureen Litchman, M.D., a board-certified family medicine physician, is the medical director of The Wright Center Wilkes-Barre Practice, where she sees patients of all ages. Dr. Litchman also serves as associate program director of the Regional Family Medicine Residency Program at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education. “I walked into my kitchen. Mail strewn on the counter. There it was. An envelope posted from AARP addressed to me. It was 2005. Reality struck. I was old enough to be eligible for membership. The good news is there are lifestyle changes we can make to lead healthier lives and positively impact our longevity. Each of us can take a proactive approach in adjusting and supporting our changing bodies. This can be done gracefully by making healthier choices. I am happy to share with you some behaviors each of us older citizens can do to improve the quality and quantity of our lives. And if you’re not quite in an “older age group,” it’s never too early to start adopting some of these changes. Please consider sharing them with someone you love so they can start making some positive changes. Please allow me to promote September’s observance of Healthy Aging Month, whichbegan more than 30 years ago to encourage people to focus on their physical and mental health in a positive way. There are several ways each of us can live healthier lives. Many healthy practices are well within our reach with the right amount of motivation and encouragement. Engaging with others in your pursuit of better health creates supportive relationships. This increases your chances for success. Below are a few tips to consider. I suggest following one or two behaviors to start and incorporate additional changes every few weeks. Maintain a healthy diet: Increase your intake of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, low-fat dairy products, and water. Alcohol may be consumed in moderation. Get up and move! Treat yourself to a walk and enjoy the scenery. If the weather is inclement, find an indoor site such as a local mall and get some steps in. Try increasing how long you walk over a few weeks with a goal of walking for 30 minutes, three days a week. Ways you can increase your activity include: park further away from your destination, use steps instead of an elevator, and walk into drive-in places such as a bank. See your doctor: Schedule regular preventive and primary care checkups with your primary care physician to reduce disease occurrence or to detect it early enough so treatment may be more effective. Get a good night’s sleep: Some adults may struggle to get adequate sleep. Your strive to goal would be to sleep seven to nine hours per night. This may increase your level of alertness and improve your mood and memory. Avoid using tobacco products to include smoking, vaping, and chewing: Please know there are several effective options to assist you in quitting. Have your primary care physician be a member of your team to help you battle this health challenge. Monitor your brain health: Our brains may change as we get older. The good news is, dementia is not a normal part of the aging process. We can improve brain health by performing activities which challenge our brains: crossword puzzles, Wordle, Sudokus, etc. Please notify your doctor if anything related to your memory or overall brain health has occurred. We at The Wright Center are trained to help you with your health challenges. We offer a full range of geriatric services that promote good health, prevent disease, treat afflictions, and manage disabilities. We firmly believe that our holistic, whole-person approach to treatment and care is especially beneficial to aging adults who may be categorized as frail or not being listened to by other doctors. We provide them with the tools to live a full and healthy life thanks to our specialized services, which include Alzheimer’s and dementia evaluation and testing; well visits with providers; ongoing care for chronic conditions; caregiver support; preventive care and health education; case management; and linkage to community resources and support services. That approach is paying big dividends, as evidenced by our geriatric program being recognizedby the Institute for Healthcare Improvement as an Age-Friendly Health System Partner forproviding a full spectrum of primary health and support services for our patients who are youngat heart. We’re all aging – but with a lot of personal effort and the assistance of our health care providers,we can age well and continue to enjoy our lives. Whether you refer to getting older as “the golden years” or “the silver tsunami,” let’s all strive to make them the best years of our lives because they are precious.”
The Wright Center Celebrates Community Health Worker Awareness Week One of the fastest-growing careers in health care has nothing to do with direct medical care. Using their encyclopedic knowledge of local resources, community health workers (CHWs) help people meet various basic needs, including housing, utility bills, nutritious foods, clothing, insurance, transportation to and from medical appointments, and more. “Community health workers, they’re pretty much the foundation,” said Amanda Vommaro, CCHW, director of patient-centered services and supervisor of the community health workers at The Wright Center for Community Health. “We make sure the patients are getting their social needs met so that they’re able to address their health.” For example, a patient with financial difficulties may have to choose between buying food or medication, according to Vommaro. Connecting to a food pantry could help that patient afford the life-saving medication a doctor prescribes. “If you don’t have your basic needs met, you’re not really able to do anything else,” she said about patients. “When they’re not buying medication and taking care of their health, that’s where we come in.” As the health care world celebrates National Community Health Worker Awareness Week from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1, the need for CHWs is greater than ever. Employment of community health workers across the United States is projected to grow 12% between 2021 and 2031 – much faster than the average for other occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the demand for CHWs, according to Chelsea Wolff, a health educator with the Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Thousands of people lost their jobs and found themselves navigating an often-overwhelming system to apply for unemployment, food stamps, rent and mortgage relief, and other aid from government entities and local social service agencies. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan called for hiring 100,000 CHWs over 10 years starting in 2021 to support the prevention and control of COVID-19. But many entities that employ CHWs are having trouble filling the jobs, including The Wright Center for Community Health. It’s partly because people are not familiar with the position. “People are starting to know about it, but we have a long way to go,” Wolff acknowledged. AHEC hopes to help fill the need locally through training courses, some of which are held virtually for community members. The center began offering CHW courses in 2009, Wolff said. Since then, demand has soared for these specialty workers. The course covers the basics of what a CHW needs to know, from building an understanding of different cultures and health literacy to learning how to complete documentation and how to avoid job burnout. CHWs live in the communities they serve, so they become experts in knowing what resources are available and how best to connect clients to them, Vommaro and Wolff said. The AHEC classes feature many guest speakers, so trainees can begin building a list of local resources that provide help. “It’s helping to connect the dots and really building those contacts,” Wolff said. Vommaro said clients are often more comfortable talking to CHWs because of their shared community roots. “It’s just a different level of comfort when you’re talking to a community health worker because sometimes we’ve been in the same situation they are in; we’re people who live in their community,” she said. “It’s a little less intimidating than talking to their doctor.” For more information about the course, visit the AHEC’s website at NEPA-AHEC.org. AHEC also offers monthly informational sessions about CHWs every second Monday of the month. To learn more, go to PACHW.org/upcoming-sessions.
The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement Supports People Facing Hardships During a community-outreach project, Kara Seitzinger was handing out free back-to-school supplies at the South Side Farmers Market in Scranton on a sunny Saturday when she got an urgent call from a colleague at The Wright Center for Community Health Mid Valley Practice. The caller, a community health worker, explained the still-unfolding situation: A mother, homeless and pregnant, had come into the clinic in Jermyn needing food, diapers, and other essential supplies. The caller asked: Can we help her? Yes, said Seitzinger. Within hours, the woman received what she needed. The same day, Seitzinger and a group of volunteers distributed 85 school backpacks to families visiting the farmers market. It’s all in a day’s work for Seitzinger, executive director of public affairs at The Wright Center, and like-minded employees who volunteer with the nonprofit organization’s subsidiary, The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement (PCE). Oct. 23 is National Make a Difference Day, an annual observance during which people are encouraged to find ways to improve their communities. Motivated by a similar spirit, many of The Wright Center’s employees and resident and fellow physicians are active year-round, doing impactful projects with PCE to improve people’s health and well-being. PCE’s roots can be traced to an informal auxiliary started years ago by staffers at the Mid Valley Practice and funded by their donations. They sporadically passed the hat to help a patient or family with a pressing need. However, The Wright Center’s leaders soon recognized the profound need it filled in the community and formalized the initiative in 2020 to make it self-sufficient. Mary Marrara, a longtime community champion and a member of The Wright Center for Community Health Board, helped complete the paperwork to establish PCE officially. “The initiative to do patient and community engagement started with little bites, and then we folded in the auxiliary to launch what it is today,” she said. ‘We take care of it’ PCE strives to help people in the region overcome food insecurity and other negative social and economic determinants of health, such as inadequate housing, lack of educational access, and poverty. The Wright Center’s leaders recognize that addressing these basic needs is critical to improving patients’ health over the long term, said Seitzinger, who serves as advisor liaison to The Wright Center’s president and CEO. “Transportation has always been a huge problem for many of our patients,” said Seitzinger. “And, food insecurity has increased exponentially since the COVID-19 pandemic began and really rose again in the last six months as SNAP benefits were cut.” PCE seeks grants and conducts several fundraising events to fulfill its mission. The organization hosted its inaugural golf tournament in May, which raised more than $45,000. In August, proceeds from the second annual Road to Recovery Car Show at Nay Aug Park assisted patients of The Wright Center for Community Health’s Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence with transportation to and from appointments. Similarly, when possible, PCE helps community members get past short-term crises, as it was able to do for the pregnant, homeless woman who needed assistance. “People can come to us without worry,” said Marrara. We have people come to us privately, and we take care of it, but we maintain 100% accurate records. I want people to know – everything we do is checked and double-checked.” ‘The next step’ PCE relies on volunteers to chip in during food distributions, school backpack giveaways, and other events at The Wright Center’s primary care practices and other locations in the community. Seitzinger sees it as a win-win: Employees make a difference in the communities they serve, and they raise public awareness about the affordable, high-quality health care and preventive services available by visiting The Wright Center’s clinics in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wayne counties. “The Wright Center is federally funded, so in a sense, the community owns it,” said Seitzinger. “We’re trying to find ways to contribute to the community and get our staff out there to give back.” Looking to the future, Seitzinger envisions building more lasting ways for PCE to help the community, including adding a permanent food pantry and a dedicated clothing closet. “Having the ability to have a food bank or a clothing closet right there in the clinic, that’s the next step,” she said. Marrara echoed Seitzinger’s goals, noting that she’s excited to see how PCE will continue to grow over time. “I’m proud of what we have become,” she said. “And I would venture to say that a year from now, I’ll be even prouder.” For more information, visit TheWrightCenter.org.
The Wright Center Welcomes Longtime EMT and Educator A longtime emergency medical technician-paramedic and educator joined The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education as director of employee health and continuing medical education coordinator. Carmen Passaniti, EMT-P, will oversee employee health services and training for The Wright Centers in this new role. Earlier this month, the American Heart Association (AHA) designated The Wright Center for Community Health as an official training site. As part of his duties, Passaniti will oversee the process of developing The Wright Center for Community Health as an AHA training center, including developing a curriculum in alignment with AHA guidelines. Additionally, he will build and implement a continuing medical education program for clinical employees. Passaniti began his career as an emergency medical technician-paramedic at Community Medical Center in 1981, where he worked on the first advanced life support unit in Lackawanna County. Since then, the West Abington Township resident has spent decades coordinating training for and managing EMTs and paramedics at Community Life Support, which became part of Commonwealth Health Emergency Medical Services (CHEMS). In addition, he has managed the AHA training for EMTs and paramedics for Community Life Support and CHEMS for more than 20 years, including serving as training center coordinator for seven years. For more information about the locations and services provided by The Wright Center for Community Health, go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-230-0019.
Wright Center to Host Backpack Giveaway To celebrate National Health Center Week, The Wright Center for Community Health will host backpack giveaways in Hawley and South Scranton. The backpacks, funded by The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement, contain much-needed school supplies – including pencils, pencils, notebooks and folders – to give kids a good start to the school year. Sponsored by the National Association of Community Health Centers, National Health Center Week celebrates America’s 1,400 Community Health Centers, which serve as the beacon of strength, service, and care in their communities. The week begins Sunday, Aug. 6 and ends Saturday, Aug. 12. WHAT: Backpack giveaways in Hawley and South Scranton to celebrate National Health Center Week. WHERE/WHEN: Tuesday, Aug. 8, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., The Wright Center for Community Health Hawley Practice, 103 Spruce St., Hawley; Saturday, Aug. 12, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., South Side Farmers Market, 526 Cedar Ave., Scranton. A Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike, The Wright Center for Community Health is an essential community provider of safety-net primary and preventive health services, a state-designated Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence, and a Ryan White HIV/AIDS Clinic. The Wright Center for Community Health operates 10 locations in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wayne counties include a mobile medical and dental unit called Driving Better Health that serve more than 33,0000 unique patients annually and ensure everyone in the service area has access to integrated, high-quality, affordable health services, regardless of their insurance status, ZIP code, or ability to pay.
The Wright Center Knows That Success in Recovery Takes a Village Substance use disorder affects people in all walks of life, no matter their profession or socio-economic status. No one is immune from substance use disorder impacting their lives, whether it is a family member, friend or themselves. September marks the 30th anniversary of National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. This year’s theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Together We Are Stronger,” could be the theme for The Wright Center for Community Health’s comprehensive recovery programs for people facing alcohol and substance use disorder in a nine-county area of Northeast Pennsylvania. The Wright Center for Community Health was recognized as a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania designated Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence in 2016, accepting their first patient in February 2017. Since then, about 2,300 people have interacted with the program and 670 patients are currently actively involved in the Center of Excellence “We’ve grown tremendously as an organization and as a recovery community. When you have a village mentality, you are tapping into every resource to meet the needs of patients. It’s about getting them on and keeping them on a recovery journey, regardless of their pathway,” said Scott Constantini, assistant vice president of primary care and recovery services integration at The Wright Center for Community Health. Services to Support People with SUD As an integrated health care organization, the Center of Excellence works with patients to ensure they have the proper medical care and treatments for their recovery to be successful. When a patient who hasn’t seen a doctor in 20 years enters the Center of Excellence program, they are offered access to medical, dental, behavioral health and other supportive service lines. Every patient is connected with a case manager and a certified recovery specialist (CRS) for support. Medication for Opiate Use Disorder (MOUD) treatment is also available. “We offer multiple pathways to recovery; what works for one patient may not work for another. We have grown both our Center of Excellence to expand patient capacity and we’ve also grown our collaborative partners in the community to meet the needs of our patients. It’s about a full circle of services,” said Constantini. Together with these community partners, The Wright Center for Community Health connects patients with multiple recovery supports, treatment, and socioeconomic necessities. The Healthy MOMS program The Healthy MOMS (Maternal Opiate Medical Support) program supports pregnant women and mothers with substance use disorder. Launched in 2018, the program has treated 420 mothers, with 223 babies born during that time. Currently, 168 mothers are active within the program. Healthy MOMS provides intensive case management services for expectant mothers throughout their pregnancy up until their youngest child is two years old. The program aims to stabilize this high-risk population and allows participants to receive the necessary support to manage their chronic condition in conjunction with pregnancy and the postpartum period. “Many mothers in the program are considered high-risk pregnancies because of their prescribed MOUD. Our case management provides many services by connecting this population with resources including family planning, OB/GYN, pediatricians, and social services like transportation, housing and WIC,” said Maria Kolcharno, director of addiction services. Efforts to Reduce the Stigma An important function of the Center of Excellence is to work in the community to reduce and educate the stigma associated with addiction. “We are doing a lot of work around stigma. People are no longer feeling alone in their recovery journey,” said Constantini. “Unfortunately, society doesn’t look at addiction as a chronic health condition. They tend to look at it as a moral failure or choice and we are working to change that narrative.” The Wright Center for Community Health is a part of Project PROGRESS (Providing Recovery Opportunities for Growth, Education, and Sustainable Success), a multi-county recovery-to work program that connects people in recovery with employers in six counties. The program works with employers to educate them about the benefits of hiring people in recovery and coordinates training classes to make more CRSs available in the community. Addiction Affects the Family Families struggle with addiction as it is a family disease. Addiction is very powerful and no different than if someone was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Families are encouraged to also seek support to understand the disease through local Al-anon support groups or other family support organizations. In these groups, families will learn how to offer positive support and understand the symptoms of the disease. For more information about recovery programs at The Wright Center for Community Health, visit TheWrightCenter.org. Best Practices for Getting and Remaining Sober: Sobriety is very personal and may mean different things to different people. By definition, sobriety means not being under the influence of a substance, whether alcohol or drugs. It is estimated that 80% of people who experience long-term sobriety had at least one relapse during their journey to sobriety. Some people experience many setbacks before they find long-term recovery. You have recognized your need for sobriety, which is the very first step. The more strategies you use for your recovery, the higher the chances are that you will remain sober. Below are some best practices to getting and remaining sober. Identify your triggers.The biggest part of preventing relapse is knowing what causes the relapse and avoiding them. Some common triggers include: StressEnvironmental cuesPeople who are still usingRelationship troublesJob or financial problems Recognize warning signs. A relapse can happen when you least expect it. Warning signs of relapse include: Returning to addictive thinking patternsEngaging in compulsive behaviorsSeeking out situations or people involved with drugs or alcoholThinking less rationally Additional strategies for a successful recovery include: Prepare for Post-Acute Withdrawal Symptoms (PAWS)Avoid old routinesBuild healthy relationshipsAsk for help and seek local agencies that can assist you with getting the appropriate help.Get support from new, sober friends and those who are successful in their recoveryDevelop a structured routine to your dayFind employment and focus on your financesPractice healthy living and exerciseDeal with past mistakesFind balance in your lifeAcknowledge your hard work and how far you have come towards your recovery For more information on best practices to getting and remaining sober, visit The Wright Center Opioid Center of Excellence online at thewrightcenter.org
