Addiction treatment and recovery leaders convening in Crossville Friday to address gaps that can leave Tennesseans without support as they move from treatment into long-term recovery.
Reach Impact Institute Co-Founder Anna Stewart said the Tennessee Recovery Continuum Summit will bring together policy leaders, state officials and medical experts to look for ways to better connect existing resources.
“Our message is really simple: saving a life is only the beginning,” Steward said, “We must build a connected continuum of care that helps individuals move from rescue to treatment, recovery, and long-term stability.”
Stewart said one of the biggest challenges comes when different parts of the recovery system operate independently, leaving individuals and families to find the next step, without direction.
“We need a stronger connection between timely access to evidence-based treatment, recovery housing, certified peer recovery coaches and support, as well as ongoing behavioral health care, mental health, and employment opportunities,” Stewart said. “And all of that with the support of community-based resources.”
Stewart said treating addiction as a chronic disease would also change what happens after someone completes an initial treatment program.
“So if you use the example of diabetes or a chronic heart condition, those are conditions that have a continuum of care that follow the patient throughout their journey, and that doesn’t exist right now in many places as far as it relates to addiction,” Stewart said. “So things like coordinated referrals, warm handoffs, and long-term recovery management are all part of what should be within that continuum of care system.”
Stewart said stigma can create another barrier when someone decides to seek help, including within the healthcare system.
“The other important thing to note about stigma is that in many places it also is sort of an underlying theme that exists within the healthcare system,” Stewart said. “So you’ll find some hospitals even and medical providers who, when a patient approaches them about their substance use and that they do want to get treatment, they’re treated as if they’re the problem and that they are responsible and that the medical provider is not the one who should be helping them, they should be helping themselves and finding other ways to get better.”
Stewart said organizers want Friday’s summit to produce specific ideas that communities can use rather than simply identify the problems.
“The practical solutions that we expect from the summit is really to move beyond discussion and identify the practical ways to strengthen addiction treatment and recovery services, similar to the examples that I was giving you earlier throughout Tennessee and beyond, but particularly in rural communities like the Upper Cumberland,” Stewart said.