Name
Empowering Families: How to Address a Loved One’s Opioid Use and Become a Family Advocate
Date & Time
Wednesday, April 4, 2018, 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM
Courtney Hunter Patricia Aussem Denise Mariano
Description
Moderator: Karen H. Perry, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Narcotics Overdose Prevention and Education (NOPE) Task Force, and Member, National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit Advisory Board

CE Certified By: APA,CHES/NCHES,NAADAC,NASW,NBCC

An estimated 2 million families are confronted with helping loved ones engage in treatment. This session will feature two presentations designed to empower family members of a loved one who has an opioid use disorder, first by navigating treatment and then by becoming an advocate within their community.

The first presentation will address the challenges that a family faces when realizing a loved one has an opioid use disorder. Confronted with judgment and stigma, family members often are fearful and too paralyzed to do anything. If they choose to help a loved one get into treatment, family members face the difficult task of navigating a system typically with voluntary participation, unclear protocols, extensive wait lists, insurance gatekeepers, disparity, patient brokering and daunting financial challenges. The presenters will explain how families can be empowered using Community Reinforcement and Family Training, Motivational Interviewing, and other resources to help a loved one get the care, supports and treatment they need and deserve. Case examples will be utilized.

The second presentation will discuss how to equip parents and families with critical information on how to become effective advocates within their own community. The presenter will share the latest updates on federal efforts related to programs and funding, as well as provide an understanding of the current laws that exist to help navigate the treatment system (such as the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act). The presenter will encourage family members to act on specific issues related to addiction and provide tools for action, such as how best to tell personal narratives around addiction.

UPON COMPLETION OF THIS COURSE, PARTICIPANTS WILL BE ABLE TO:
- Recognize the challenges families face in identifying opioid misuse by loved ones.
- Identify the various obstacles families encounter when seeking treatment.
- Explain resources and tools that can empower families to take action to engage loved ones in treatment.
- Inform parents and families of support and critical information they need to become effective advocates.
- Describe what families can do to help remedy inadequacies with enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.
- Persuade other parents and families to act on specific issues related to addiction and provide guidance on how best to tell personal narrative around addiction.