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Navigating the Road to Recovery: An Art and a Science
Defining recovery is all-encompassing. It may be recovery from mental illness, substance use, trauma, losses and, as we’ve recently learned, from the effects of a pandemic. Most often it is thought about as a journey toward regaining something that was lost or returning to a former state. In...
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Collaborative Impact Needed for the Opioid Epidemic
Acacia Network, the leading Latino integrated care nonprofit in NY, began in 1969 to address the consequences of heroin in the South Bronx. Our founding leaders, Carlos Pagan, Julio Martinez, Gumersindo Martinez, Hector Diaz, Evalina Lopez Antonetty, and Lorraine Montengreo, among others,...
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Treating Individuals with Both Opioid Addiction and Mental Illness
As we work to address the nation’s opioid crisis, we must recognize that a disproportionate share of prescription painkillers is being consumed by people with anxiety and depression. We at the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) are partnering with the Office of Alcohol and Substance...
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CEO Barbara Faron Celebrates 40th Anniversary with Federation of Organizations
Barbara Faron, CEO, recently celebrated her 40th anniversary at Federation! When Ms. Faron joined Federation in the late 1970s, it had one office and a handful of employees. The organization was founded in 1972 by an alliance of family advocacy groups and originally focused on supporting the needs...
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Transformations at MHA Westchester: Integrated Services to Address the Opioid Epidemic
Current national trends indicate that each year more people die of overdoses—the majority of which involve opioid drugs—than died in the entirety of the Vietnam War, the Korean War, or any armed conflict since the end of World War II. Each day 90 Americans die prematurely from an overdose that...
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Co-Occurring System of Care Committees (COSOCCs): An Innovative Regional Approach to Integrated Care
The integration of care for individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders continues to elude our healthcare and social service systems despite a nearly universal acknowledgment of its importance, both to the individuals afflicted with these conditions and the viability of...
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Helping Transition Age Youth and Young Adults Achieve their Goals
As with all young adults, a central focus for Transition Age Youth and Young Adults (TAYYA) ages 16 to 25 with serious mental health challenges is building a life in the community. Doing so requires completing their education and getting satisfying work. If these young people have spent serious...
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Integrated Care: A Model of Service in Behavioral Health
This article is part of a quarterly series giving voice to the perspectives of individuals with lived experiences as they share their opinions on a particular topic. The authors of this column facilitated a focus group of their peers to inform this writing. The authors are provided with services by...
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Integrated Health Care for Older Adults: A Model Partnership
When Sonia was discharged from New York-Presbyterian (NYP) hospital last winter her Care Coordinator arranged for home care, meals, nurse visits, transportation, medical equipment and prescriptions. She went home confident that she would be safe and would receive ongoing care at home as she...
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Integrated Psychiatry for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities
Use of psychotropic drugs for individuals with developmental disabilities is common practice. For example, Jobski, Hofer, Hoffman, and Bachmann (2016) documented an overall median use of psychotropic drugs in 45.7% of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Wink et al., (2018) documented...
