International Overdose Awareness Day is a nationally recognized, significant and meaningful day held every year on August 31st. This remembrance aims to raise global awareness of overdoses and to reduce stigmas associated with drug related deaths. It is also a day to acknowledge the grief of those suffering because of the loss of friends and families who have been affected.
According to Center of Disease Control, in 2019 nearly 71,000 Americans died of drug overdoses nationwide and nearly 3,000 in New Jersey alone. Throughout New Jersey and the country, the COVID-19 pandemic is being identified as a contributing factor to the rise in overdoses and overdose deaths we are seeing as a nation this year. International Overdose Awareness Day spreads the message that overdoses ARE preventable.
Oaks is actively engaged in the fight as we continue providing a variety of frontline services in the midst of the pandemic. To support the ever growing needs of our community during COVID-19, we continue to provide telehealth and in-community services to our substance use and co-occurring populations across the organization. Programs include:
- Opioid Overdose Recovery Program (OORP) provides telehealth and face-to-face bedside interventions to individuals at four Emergency Departments in Burlington County.
- Support Team for Addiction Recovery (STAR) continues to offer care management and peer support in the communities they serve to help reduce the risk of recurring episodes through assistance with issues that often occur concurrently with an Opioid Use Disorder, such as homelessness, incarceration, employment and education.
- Safe At Home, our newest program in the fight against opioid addiction, provides care management and peer support services to individuals with Opiate Use Disorders in addition to a housing voucher. Since October 2019 and throughout the pandemic, Safe At Home has admitted and placed 120 clients who were homeless or housing unstable in independent housing. Our Mercer County location has on-site staff available 7-days a week, providing triage and substance use services through our Ambulatory Withdrawal Management program.
- The outpatient addictions programs in Burlington and Mercer Counties are offering individual and group telehealth sessions.
Our overall focus is to provide integrated care as we empower and support individual and families through linkage of treatment, accountability and consistent follow-up care. On International Overdose Awareness Day, we invite you to take a moment to remember those lost to an overdose and stand together as we continue to reduce stigmas and help to save lives. Many counties and regions in New Jersey and the surrounding states host Candlelight Vigils in honor of this momentous day.
To learn more about Oaks Addiction Services, view a full list here or call our Access Center at 1-800-963-3377.
