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Today’s Treatment Models Use All the Tools in the Toolbox
Treatment for substance misuse begins before someone walks through the doors of a rehabilitation center asking for help. It starts when a person acknowledges their life is out of control - or controlled by a drug of abuse - and harms themselves and potentially others. Denial, conscious and...
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Rising to the COVID-19 Challenge
When Governor Cuomo ordered the closure of non-essential businesses across New York State in response to rising coronavirus infection rates, Odyssey House stayed open. Our essential residential treatment centers, outpatient services, supportive housing apartments, and primary health clinics in...
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Addressing the Urgent Treatment and Housing Needs of Older Adults
In the midst of a devastating opioid epidemic, much of the attention has focused on the impact on younger populations, but there is another group struggling with substance use disorders: senior citizens. As baby boomers head towards their senior years, the number of older Americans with substance...
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Opportunities for Improved Services with Integrated Care
The key component of integrated care – coordination of primary and behavioral health services in a way that is accessible from one place – is not a new concept for many substance abuse treatment organizations, such as Odyssey House in New York City, that operate Article 28 licensed medical and...
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Treatment and Housing: A Seamless Service Model for High Need Populations
A report published by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in 2013 found that: “Supportive housing has been demonstrated to end homelessness for persons with complex needs and to reduce overall public systems’ involvement and costs.” These “complex needs” include an array...
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Preparing for Managed Care: Staff Credentialing, Evidence-Based Practices, and Fiscal Systems
For decades, behavioral health (BH) professionals have fought for the right to have mental health (MH) and substance use disorders (SUD) regulated in a similar manner as medical/surgical conditions. First the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 and more recently the 2012...
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Total Wellness: The Key to Behavioral Health
The term “behavioral health” is often used to describe the connection between behavior and the health and well-being of the body, mind, and spirit. Substance use disorders, mental illness, homelessness – these are all behavioral health problems that need a multi-faceted treatment approach....
