Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 11

respected option to their usual patients-
respecting the alternative for those who
want it and learning from this integrative
experience.
poland: Exactly! We want to make sure
patients have their needs respected and
supported. As physicians, it's important
we know how people are treating their
disease: whether it's 12-step or, say,
acupuncture. In the name of helping
patients, understanding, and respecting
alternatives helps us better care for the
people and communities we serve.
What is the process for successfully
integrating these two approaches?
What are the biggest hurdles providers
face when accomplishing this goal?
dupont: The biggest hurdle is the staff
reluctance, even the staff distaste, for
the integration of an alternative as an
option for patients who want it. There is an
ideological and visceral rejection of the
integration at the start that is challenging.
But with gentle persistence, it has
been overcome and the patients have
benefited.
poland: I also find that patients are a bit
reluctant to share their experiences with
12-step-good or bad. Somehow, they're
expecting a reaction from me-either
insistence they go or distain for the
program. Again, being open and
nonjudgmental about what works for
an individual allows us to best care for
them. And I've definitely learned a lot
from my patients about how to integrate
the two modalities in a way that
complements each other.
Can you provide any data that show
how this combined approach has led to
better outcomes?
dupont: I know of no controlled study
comparing integrated vs. segregated
programs on these two alternative
modalities. However, Hazelden Betty
Ford Foundation has been a leader in
integrating the use of MOUD into its
traditionally 12-step-based treatment
program with excellent results.
The best evidence that supports this
new blending of major modalities is the
experience of many who have found
this once unthinkable integration to be
relatively easily achieved, and the
reactions of staff and patients have
been positive.
There is one particularly positive payoff,
and that is this integration helps tone
down the hostility between the two
dominant addiction treatment modalities.
Reducing that hostility benefits both,
because the entrenched hostility has the
effect of undermining public confidence
of both modalities. It is a little like hostility
between residential vs. outpatient
addiction treatment or between treatment
that has abundant psychosocial support
and treatment that does not. The solution
is not to declare one the winner, but to
value the variety of options. In this case,
the solution is to combine them to
capture the benefits of each.
poland: The very nature of 12-step
programs makes them difficult to study,
as a key tenant is the anonymity. So while,
as Dr. DuPont stated, there aren't studies
exactly exploring the outcomes of this
approach, clinically, what we hear from
patients, staff, providers, and prescribers
is that this approach supports people
in their treatment. With the high cost of
addiction to individuals, families, and
the community, finding and developing
individualized care plans will only help
us develop and create safer, healthier
communities for generations to come.
The time has come for us to work together
to find the best individualized care plan
that meets the person in front of us with
kindness, compassion, and support to live
the healthiest life they can.
U.S. Congressman
David Trone, Maryland's 6th
Congressional District
reference DuPont R, Poland C. Stronger together: Combining medication for opioid use disorders
with 12-step recovery support to achieve five-year recovery. Presented at: Rx and Illicit Drug Summit;
April 18-21, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia.
key takeaways from rx summit 2022
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Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook

Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 1
Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 2
Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 3
Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 4
Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 5
Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 6
Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 7
Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 8
Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 9
Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 10
Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 11
Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 12
Rx Summit 2022 Key Takeaways eBook - 13
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