Is your hospital drowning in substance abuse cases? Discover a new solution!
Blip-Zip Executive Summary
Feeling overwhelmed by the substance abuse crisis? Don’t lose hope! This article explores how Strategic Health Leadership (SHELDR) principles can empower communities to build effective response systems. Learn how to develop a Substance Abuse Crisis Response Center to alleviate pressure on hospitals and create a path to healing. Discover inspiring success stories and actionable steps to implement in your community. Check out the hyperlinks for more information inside the article and questions and references at the end to take action!
Blip-Zip Takeaways
- Strategic Leaders Lead Communities out of Addiction: Learn how these leadership principles can help you build a Crisis Response Center.
- Beyond hospital walls: Discover a collaborative approach to address the substance abuse crisis and empower a healthier future.
- Turn failure into success: Foster a culture of learning from mistakes to improve your community’s response continuously.
Key Words/Hashtags (#)
#SHELDR #SubstanceAbuseCrisis #CommunityHealth #CrisisResponseCenter #PublicHealthLeadership
Table of Contents
Introduction to the Strategic Leader’s Imperatives
Have you ever wondered how a community can transform its response to a substance abuse crisis despite the staggering statistics? As a follow-on to my article 15 Frames of Reference and Programs To Shatter Addiction’s Grip In Your Community, I was inspired by an insightful infographic on strategic leadership. This article explores how SHELDRs can explore and develop a community-wide Substance Abuse Crisis Response Center.
The latest trends in the United States for both illicit and legalized substances are sounding alarm bells for experts who track the harmful consequences of addiction. In 2022, more than 109,000 people in the nation died of drug overdoses—an estimated 54% jump from 2019, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (National Center for Health Statistics, 2023). Roughly two-thirds of these deaths involved illicitly manufactured fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than heroin (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, CDC, Vol. 72, No. 26, 2023).
Application of the Principles
These principles emphasize the need for ongoing strategic leader development, transparency, innovation, resilience, collaboration, experiential learning, transformative hiring, authenticity, reflection, and distributed responsibility.
Each principle is a stepping stone towards building resilient health systems and communities that address complex health challenges. What if you were “tapped” to develop and implement a community-wide Substance Abuse Crisis Response Center? Consider the following application and examples. Are you ready?
Here is a table based on the principles of strategic leadership, along with how to apply each competency and an example of how to develop and implement a community-wide substance abuse crisis response center to augment an overwhelmed hospital emergency department:
| Principle | How to Apply the Competency | Example |
| Distribute Responsibility | Delegate tasks effectively by assigning clear roles and ownership for different aspects of the project. Empower a steering committee with representatives from public health, law enforcement, social services, and the hospital to oversee the planning and implementation. | Create a steering committee with clear roles and authorities. Delegate tasks to committee members based on their expertise. Empower them to make decisions within their designated areas. |
| Recognize Leadership Development as an Ongoing Practice | Continuously seek new knowledge and best practices for substance abuse crisis response centers. Encourage open communication and feedback loops among committee members and stakeholders. | Participate in conferences or webinars on crisis response centers. Attend training on substance abuse and addiction. Conduct surveys with community members to understand their needs and concerns. |
| Create Multiple Paths for Raising and Testing Ideas | Encourage brainstorming sessions and open forums where all stakeholders can contribute ideas. Pilot test different approaches in a controlled setting before full-scale implementation. | Hold design thinking workshops to generate ideas for the center’s services and operation model. Pilot test a mobile outreach program in a high-need neighborhood before expanding services. |
| Bring Your Whole Self to Work | Approach the project with passion and a commitment to serving the community. Be authentic and transparent in your communication with stakeholders. | Communicate the potential impact of the crisis response center on the community and the healthcare system. Acknowledge the challenges and complexities involved in such a project. |
| Hire for Transformation | Recruit team members passionate about public health and a commitment to making a difference. Seek individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences who can bring new perspectives to the project. | Assemble a team for the crisis response center that includes medical professionals, social workers, peer recovery specialists, and community outreach workers. |
| Develop Opportunities for Experience-Based Learning | Provide opportunities for team members to learn from established crisis response centers through site visits or mentorship programs. Encourage job shadowing and cross-training within the project team. | Partner with an existing crisis response center in another city. Organize site visits so that staff can learn from their experiences. Develop a cross-training program where medical professionals know about social services and vice versa. |
| Find Time to Reflect | Schedule regular meetings for the steering committee and project team to discuss progress, challenges, and areas for improvement. Encourage team members to reflect on their experiences and identify areas for personal growth. | During steering committee meetings, dedicate time to discuss successes, challenges, and lessons learned. Encourage team members to keep journals or participate in group reflection sessions. |
| Be Honest and Open About Information | Communicate transparently with stakeholders about the project’s progress, budget constraints, and potential hurdles. Be upfront about challenges and setbacks. | Regularly update stakeholders on the project’s development through community meetings, press releases, and social media. Publicly acknowledge any roadblocks or delays and explain how the team works to overcome them. |
| Make it Safe to Fail. | Foster a work environment where team members feel comfortable taking risks and experimenting with new ideas. Celebrate learning opportunities that arise from mistakes. | Implement a pilot testing process with clear success metrics. Emphasize that pilot tests are designed to identify improvement areas and not solely measure failure. Publicly acknowledge successful adaptations made based on learnings from pilot phases. |
The table aligns the principles of strategic leadership with actionable steps and real-world examples, providing a framework for establishing a comprehensive substance abuse response center that supports an overwhelmed hospital emergency department. For example, the West Virginia University (WVU) Medicine Crisis Support & Recovery Center worked with community organizations to establish a short-term, person-centered program focused on delivering optimal patient care through compassion, understanding, and innovation. The figure below provides more details.
Successful Programs
The war on drugs has demonstrably failed to address the complex issue of substance abuse. Instead, a new approach is emerging, one that prioritizes public health and strategic leadership. This approach, embodied by the strategic leader, focuses on creating positive change through collaboration, community engagement, and addressing the root causes of substance use disorders. These initiatives reflect the tenets of SHELDR and demonstrate the power of strategic health leadership in creating positive change.
- Project ECHO: A tele-mentoring program that uses video conferencing to train primary care providers in managing substance use disorders. The opioid epidemic continues to erode communities across Pennsylvania (PA). Federal and PA state programs developed grants to establish Hub and Spoke programs for the expansion of medications for opioid use disorders (MOUD). Employing the telementoring platform Project ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes), Penn State Health engaged the other seven grant awardees in a Collaborative Health Systems (CHS) ECHO. We conducted key informant interviews to better understand the impact of the CHS ECHO on health systems collaboration and opioid crisis efforts.
- Safe Stations: Fire and police stations in New Hampshire have become safe havens for individuals seeking immediate help and treatment referrals. The Safe Station program establishes a safe environment where individuals seeking help with substance misuse can come to a fire station to speak with an on-duty firefighter or EMT and immediately be directed to treatment and recovery services.
- HOPE For Rowan County PORT Initiative: North Carolina’s Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT) is a program that follows up with a person who has recently overdosed (typically within 24 to 72 hours) to provide support, education, and connection to resources, such as substance use and mental health referrals or naloxone. PORT programs are an excellent opportunity to build relationships with people who use drugs (PWUD) in our community. PORT programs also create connections that offer a variety of wrap-around health and social services, even if this connection happens later, considering that a person may not be prepared to seek help immediately. Wrap-around services offer a comprehensive, interconnected approach to addressing individuals’ well-being, considering the unique needs and challenges of substance use. PORT programs can be a lifesaving touchpoint for people often marginalized by society.
- Recovery High Schools: Specialized schools offering education and recovery support, showing promising results in youth sobriety and academic success. Recovery high schools allow students to learn while in recovery from a substance use or co-occurring disorder in a safe environment without sacrificing educational opportunities. More than 40 high schools in the country are recognized as recovery schools by the Association of Recovery Schools. According to Finch, recovery high schools focus on a few key areas: Educating students in recovery from addiction or substance use, meeting state-level requirements for a high school diploma, and supporting students holistically through their ongoing recovery.
- 24/7 Sobriety Program: South Dakota’s program requires daily breathalyzer tests for alcohol-related offenders, significantly reducing repeat DUI arrests. South Dakota’s innovative 24/7 Sobriety Program requires those arrested for or convicted of alcohol-involved offenses to take twice-a-day breathalyzer tests or wear a continuous alcohol monitoring bracelet. Those who test positive or skip their tests are immediately subject to swift, confident but modest sanctions—typically a day or two in jail. After a five-county pilot project, “24/7” quickly grew to cover additional jurisdictions and offenses (e.g., assault).
The five programs showcase the potential of strategic leader in tackling the substance abuse crisis. These programs improve individual lives and demonstrate the power of strategic health leadership in building healthier communities. By addressing the social determinants of health and fostering collaboration across sectors, SHELDRs pave the way for a brighter future free from the devastating effects of substance abuse.
SHELDR Imperatives – Three Tips for Success
The substance abuse crisis demands a new breed of leader – one who embraces continuous learning and extends their influence beyond organizational walls. Traditional leadership models are insufficient. Here are three tips for success:
- Leadership is an ongoing practice to tackle the substance abuse crisis; leaders must view their role as evolving and beyond the walls of their organization. Leaders who exemplify continuous development by seeking feedback and adapting strategies to support the community’s needs will overcome their community’s substance abuse crisis and impacts. For example, public health advocacy requires many skills beyond public health expertise, including developing and implementing advocacy programs, empowering communities to advocate for their own health needs, and navigating public health advocacy challenges and limitations.
- A strategic leader must find and create multiple paths for funding and innovation. Innovation is critical. Sustainable and practical solutions can be achieved by encouraging diverse and inclusive ideas for treatment programs and health system integration.
- Make it safe to fail. It is vital to create a safe environment to test new approaches to response and recovery. A pilot program would allow for controlled demonstration and experimentation with various substance abuse response and recovery strategies.
Summary
Strategic Health Leadership principles are instrumental for the strategic leader in addressing substance abuse crises. Communities can build effective response systems by fostering ongoing development, innovation, and a culture that embraces learning from failures. Let’s consider how we can apply these principles in our context.What innovative solutions might we test? How can we learn from our failures to improve?
