Crouse Health, CHESS Health using federal grant to address substance-use disorders

The grant funding will help the Syracuse Community Treatment Court and Crouse Health help those with SUD “recover and remain in recovery,” the Syracuse health-care organization said in a news release issued Tuesday.

Rockville, Maryland–based Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is funding the grant.

Substance-use disorders “occur when the recurrent use of alcohol and/or drugs causes clinically and functionally significant impairment, such as health problems, disability, and failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school, or home,” according to the SAMHSA website.

“The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), no longer uses the terms substance abuse and substance dependence, rather it refers to substance use disorders, which are defined as mild, moderate, or severe to indicate the level of severity, which is determined by the number of diagnostic criteria met by an individual,” the website explained.

Grant’s purpose

The grant pays for two certified peer-recovery advocates at Crouse Health.

They’re working with Crouse clinical staff and using CHESS Health’s relapse-prevention technology to help recovering addicts remain in recovery and prevent a return to drug use,

The Crouse Health-CHESS partnership is “leveraging movable technology to maintain connection between peer specialists and those struggling with addiction,” according to the news release.

The A-CHESS platform and connections application (app) is smart phone-based mobile technology that connects users to support professionals. It delivers alerts about “danger zones,” and provides “encouragement” through recovery material and personalized motivations.

“Since 2010, we’ve seen a huge shift in our substance-abuse treatment admission numbers from alcohol to heroin and other opioids — it challenges our clinical staff in ways we couldn’t have imagined,” Monika Taylor, director of behavioral-health services at Crouse Health, said in the news release. “The A-CHESS platform supports continuous connection, a critical factor in staying on the path to recovery.”

Taylor “emphasizes” that many of their SUD patients also have other illnesses, such as Hepatitis C, diabetes, COPD, and asthma. COPD is short for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a disease that makes it hard to breathe.

Crouse Health addresses the behavioral and medical issues involved, but CHESS Health supports the connection between the health system and the drug court, according to the news release. The evidence-based technology, together with peer advocates who are “empowered to intervene,” help to “chart a path forward for those plagued by SUD,” Crouse Health contends.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com