Blog: News & Views from the Field

Our older citizens have made our communities what they are today with years of love and hard work. That’s why its particularly sad to see the sharp rise in addiction among people over 65. 

Not only has the issue become far more prevalent, it is also under-diagnosed – allowing the problem to persist for longer than necessary in some individuals. Senior citizens often find that their symptoms are dismissed by medical professionals or mistaken for other issues experienced by older adults, such as loneliness, degenerative changes, dementia and more.

Mental health and addiction cannot be separated – not in reality and not in treatment. As an organization dedicated to treating the whole person, we’re happy to announce the latest addition to our clinical team – Dr. Roger Bayog, Spectrum’s newest psychiatrist. Dr. Bayog has an extensive history of treating co-occurring disorders all over the world.

Pop singer Demi Lovato’s story is common. She was six years sober before she overdosed in her home on July 24. She was revived with naloxone and transported to the hospital. Relapse is often part of the lifelong recovery journey and should not be viewed as a failure. In fact, between 40 to 60 percent of people relapse.

You may have noticed that a lot of our treatment programs revolve around group meetings, group therapy and group activities. Peer recovery support best exemplifies the power of groups to not only help people strive for and maintain recovery, but build a foundation for the rest of their lives.

In case you missed it, we teamed up with Walgreens for an informational Facebook Live in response to the U.S. Surgeon General’s call for all Americans to begin carrying naloxone. It’s an effective and timely idea, as the Department of Public Health (DPH) estimates that there are four to six overdoses a day in Massachusetts. We understand that there are still stigmas attached to addiction and the medications that help treat it, and many people don’t fully understand what it is, let alone how to use it and where to get it. Those realities make educating people about addiction and naloxone all the more important.

As we all know, the nation is suffering a staggering opioid epidemic. What some may not know is that the U.S. is also facing a shortage of registered nurses (RNs). A sharp rise in the need for health care services compounded by the retirements of Baby Boomers, struggling nursing schools and health care reform have resulted in a need for an estimated 649,100 new nurses in the workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Projections 2014-2024.

Fifty-four-year-old David Crawley grew up in a big family – two brothers, two sisters and two parents. The Crawley family was supportive and loving, but his hometown of Roxbury, Massachusetts was filled with drugs, violence and crime which were hard to avoid.

“We didn’t need news articles to tell us how bad the opioid epidemic is,” claims Heidi DiRoberto, MA, LMHC, program director at Spectrum Health Systems. Before news of the opioid epidemic was being reported in almost every media outlet across the nation, our medical and clinical staff were already into the weeds treating opioid addiction. It is estimated by the Department of Public Health that Massachusetts is experiencing 4-6 fatal opioid overdoes a day.

As we come to a close on Alcohol Awareness Month 2018, we want to stress that raising awareness of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) should continue to be a priority. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), 88,000 people die every year from AUD and other alcohol-related causes (62,000 men and 26,000 women).

Spectrum Health Systems and the New England Recovery Center provide preeminent evidence-based addiction treatment throughout Massachusetts. The quality of our services is a true testament to Spectrum’s dedicated and experienced staff, including a talented team of leaders, clinicians, social workers, admissions counselors and beyond who contribute to our superior continuum of care, day in and day out.