For my coursework in Building Resiliency, I created a multilevel intervention that uses the CDC’s Social Ecological Model as a framework for increasing resiliency in opioid dependent veterans. The purpose of this intervention is to target a sub-population of individuals who are enduring an epidemic that needs more assistance, especially now that many are being affected by COVID-19. Veterans are a population of people I feel get taken for granted. We need to give more back and spend more time aiding them as they return to society from battle. This intervention is for opioid dependent veterans in Palm Beach County, Florida.
The major points that were made in this intervention were done in the community level. This is where a partnership with the VA takes place. This is done to provide access to additional resources like housing assistance, mental health professionals, and access to healthcare. In 2014 there were 55,000 veteran patients in the United States that were identified as having an opioid use disorder (Bennett et al.,2015). The populations of veterans affected by opioid abuse has many different factors. A large factor was mental health disorders. Veterans that get prescribed opioids for pain that have a mental health disorder tend to have a higher risk of overdose rate than those who do not (Seal et al., 2012). Another risk factor is socioeconomic status due to the ability to afford to see a pain management physician to get proper care (Wilder et al., 2016). In one study, they found that veterans who were treated for pain management and educated on opioid dependency had significantly lower overdose deaths than the veteran population that used opioids who didn’t get the education (Wilder et al., 2016).
This information allowed me to narrow my focus of the intervention to mental health awareness in veterans with opioid use disorder and socioeconomic status/ housing insecurity. With this in mind, my main goals are to reduce the number of veterans with mental illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder or depression from overdosing on opioids and to reduce the number of veterans that end up homeless due to lack of income and stability due to their opioid addiction. My message for this intervention is that our community can be a supportive outlet for these veterans by acquiring accurate education regarding veterans mental/physical stability when they return from deployment and offer an understanding environment Also, another message is to increase veterans’ confidence and thus increasing their self-efficacy in their ability to get help from healthcare professionals or organizations before turning to opioids. This intervention involved both printed and audio materials that promoted a fundraising event of a 5K race that involved the local community in West Palm Beach, Fl. The 5K is meant to be a tool to unify, educate, and fund-raise.
Bennett, A. S., Elliott, L., & Golub, A. (2015). Veterans' Health and Opioid Safety-Contexts, Risks, and Outreach Implications. Federal practitioner : for the health care professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS, 32(6), 4–7.
Seal, K. H., Shi, Y., Cohen, G., et al. Association of Mental Health Disorders With Prescription Opioids and High-Risk Opioid Use in US Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. JAMA. 2012;307(9):940–947. doi:10.1001/jama.2012.234
Wilder, C. M., Miller, S. C., Tiffany, E., Winhusen, T., Winstanley, E. L., & Stein, M. D. (2016). Risk factors for opioid overdose and awareness of overdose risk among veterans prescribed chronic opioids for addiction or pain. Journal of addictive diseases, 35(1), 42–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/10550887.2016.1107264
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