The impact of overdose extends far beyond the individual experiencing it, affecting families, friends, neighborhoods, and communities as a whole. Regardless of where we come from or what our background may be, chances are we have either personally known someone who has experienced an overdose, lost someone to an overdose, or know someone whose life has been impacted by the effects. You may even know someone who survived it and lives to tell their story today. These experiences highlight the very importance of increasing awareness, reducing stigma, and ensuring that individuals and families have access to appropriate resources and support.

National Overdose Awareness Month provides an important opportunity to acknowledge the lives impacted by overdose, educate communities about prevention and harm reduction, and encourage individuals to seek support without fear of judgment. Bringing awareness to overdose allows communities to have open and informed conversations about substance use, recognize warning signs, promote lifesaving resources, and reinforce that seeking help is a sign of strength, not failure.

In honor of Overdose Awareness Day, ACASA’s In-Community Services hung a recognition banner for Overdose awareness month on the wall of the outpatient clinic. In addition to the banner, ACASA’s clinic staff has handed out various purple ribbons allowing individuals impacted to write on them in honor of those they have lost, to honor their survival, to provide supportive affirmations and quotes, and to give hope to those still struggling in addiction today. A small act which has proven to be meaningful to everyone involved. These ribbons align the main hallway of the outpatient clinic.

HOW CAN YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

• Continue to help raise awareness about the risks of overdose.
• Share information on available prevention, treatment, and recovery support services.
• Promote strategies that can prevent overdose.
• Learn how to recognize the signs of overdose.
• BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF HARM REDUCTION!

HARM REDUCTION SERVICES

Harm reduction services are a person-centered approach to substance use that focuses on reducing the health, social and safety-related harms associated with substance use. The main priority of harm reduction services is meeting people where they are, providing non-judgmental support and limiting the negative consequences directly related to use. This approach requires you to treat the individual with respect to their personal autonomy, does not require abstinence before receiving support, helps build trust through engagement, and provides individuals with the ability to receive treatment on their own terms.

While abstinence may be an appropriate long-term goal for many individuals with substance use disorders, requiring immediate abstinence as the sole measure of treatment success may not be realistic or clinically appropriate for every individual. It is important to develop an understanding that addiction is a complex chronic condition influenced by biological, psychological, social and environmental factors. Using a harm reduction approach to treatment recognizes that individuals enter treatment at different stages of readiness, may experience relapses, or remain in continued use while also having the ability to develop the skills and supports that are necessary for sustained recovery.

Here is a list of some supplies that are distributed within our communities and others close by:

• Naloxone (Narcan) Distribution: This medication reverses opioid overdoses. They can be stored in vehicles, medicine cabinets, backpacks, and are a good resource to have as overdose is highly unpredictable in nature and can happen at any time.
• Testing Strips: Easy to use strips that detect the presence of fentanyl or highly potent substances mixed into street supplied substances. It is important to note that these strips do not have the ability to identify every possible containment.
• Safer use education: Teaching people how to reduce the risks when using substances (not using alone, having someone nearby with Narcan, never reusing needles, calling the never use alone number. 800-484-3731 or 877-696-1996, 24/7 – 365 days a year.
• Syringe Exchange Programs (SEPS): Provide clean needles to reduce the spread of infections like HIV & Hepatitis C.
• Safe Medication Storage & Disposal: Prevents misuse by keeping medications secure and disposing of unused prescriptions safely.
• Peer Support & Recovery Coaching: Offers nonjudgemental support from people who have lived experience in substance use and recovery. This service is a game changer everywhere and is an essential part of substance use recovery as it helps those struggling to see that there is hope.
• Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT): Combines medications such as methadone, buprenorphine or naltrexone with counseling services. Not every individual will require MAT, but it is a life-saving measure in the treatment of substance use disorders.

Check out the harm reduction vending machine that is located outside of Jones Memorial Hospital, 191 North Main Street, Wellsville, NY. The items in the machine are free and sponsored by ACASA!

In addition to the mentioned prevention supplies above, harm reduction supplies also include items such as wound care supplies, personal hygiene, self-care supplies and survival supplies. Providing access to these resources supports individuals in maintaining their health, reducing preventable risks, and eliminates additional stress while navigating challenges and barriers.

ACASA OFFSITE & IN- COMMUNITY CLINICAL SERVICES

Historically, ACASA’s peer advocacy and outreach initiatives have demonstrated the value of community-based engagement in connecting individuals to treatment. Outreach workers were able to meet people in the community, develop meaningful relationships, address barriers to accessing care, and provide a supportive pathway into treatment. This approach helps engage individuals who may not have initially sought or felt comfortable accessing traditional treatment settings. Consistent outreach provides opportunities to build rapport, identify immediate needs, provide harm reduction resources, address survival needs, connect with individuals with treatment, housing, healthcare and other community-based supports.

This year ACASA had the opportunity to build on the outreach program, adding in the In-Community Clinical Services program which has brought the ability to provide both peer advocacy and substance use counseling services. What makes this approach unique is its commitment to truly meeting people where they are physically, emotionally, covering all areas of wellness and meeting them in their individual stage of change. Services are adapted to the person rather than requiring the person to fit within a predetermined system. Meeting people where they are means more than bringing services into the community; it means meeting individuals with understanding, flexibility, and support based on their current needs and readiness for change.

Counties currently covered by ACASA’s Offsite and In-Community Clinical services program are Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chatauqua, Erie and Niagara. Meeting people where they are, respect for personal autonomy, and freedom of choice for treatment and engagement on the individual’s own terms will always be the focus of each encounter provided by the In-Community Counselor and In-Community Peer Advocate.

Services provided:

• Clinical Screening.
• Individual Counseling.
• Peer Support.
• Overdose Prevention & Education.
• Harm Reduction Services and Supplies.
• Survival Support & Supplies.
• Medical Care connection.
• Connection to Medication- Assisted Treatment.
• Connection with Community Services.

For more information or questions on ACASA’s peer advocacy or outreach initiatives email Sierra Browne, In-Community Addiction Counselor.