Barnstable County Regional Substance
Abuse Council E-Newsletter 
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In This Issue
SCOPE of Pain Training
Alcohol Awareness Month
News from Caron
National Prevention Week
Shedding Light, Shedding Shame
Save the Date
Mental Health and Law Enforcement Conference
Community Forum
News from Gosnold on Cape Cod
Analysis of Substance Abuse on Cape Cod
News from SAMHSA
Research and Reports
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ISSUE: 025
    May 1, 2015

 
Welcome to the e-Newsletter from Barnstable County Regional Substance Abuse Council. This newsletter is designed to provide timely information on substance abuse and other related topics for people living and working in Barnstable County. 
 
This publication will be sent out periodically to our mailing list.  Please forward this newsletter to your friends and colleagues who may be interested in this information.  If you are not on our mailing list, you can join by clicking on the button to the left.

 

If you have information you would like included in future e-newsletters, please follow the submission instructions outlined at the bottom of this page. 
BARNSTABLE COUNTY REGIONAL SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNCIL
The next meeting of the Barnstable County Regional Substance Abuse Council is scheduled for:

Thursday, May 7, 2015 - 4:00 - 5:30 PM
Harborview Conference Room in the Barnstable County Complex, 3195 Main Street, Barnstable Village

These meetings are open to the public. Meeting agendas are posted publicly on the Barnstable County website, in front of the Barnstable Superior Courthouse, and are available upon request.
SCOPE OF PAIN TRAINING

Who should attend?

Physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and allied healthcare professionals. This training is not intended for members of the general public.

 

What is the SCOPE of Pain?

SCOPE of Pain is a series of continuing medical education/ continuing nursing education activities designed to help healthcare professionals safely and competently use opioids, if appropriate, to manage patients with chronic pain. 


 

Upcoming SCOPE of Pain training on Cape Cod:

All SCOPE of Pain sessions listed below will be offered free of charge. Food will be provided at all three sessions. Below are the dates, times and locations:

  • May 11th, 2015, 5 - 8:30 PM at Falmouth Hospital
  • May 12th, 2015, 7 -10:30 AM at Cape Cod Hospital
  • May 12th, 2015, 5 - 8:30 PM at the Chatham Wayside Inn

SCOPE of Pain is sponsored by Boston University School of Medicine. The Cape Cod meetings are a collaboration with Cape Cod Healthcare and the Barnstable County Regional Substance Abuse Council. National collaborators include the Council of Medical Specialty Societies and the Federation of State Medical Boards. The trainings are free and three CME/CE credits will be provided. Please see the attached flyer for additional information regarding accreditation and continuing education credits.


 

For more information, view the event flyer here. You can register for this event online at the SCOPE of Pain website.

APRIL IS ALCOHOL AWARENESS MONTH

Each April since 1987, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) sponsors NCADD Alcohol Awareness Month to increase public awareness and understanding, reduce stigma and encourage local communities to focus on alcoholism and alcohol-related issues. 

 

This April, NCADD highlights the important public health issue of underage drinking, a problem with devastating individual, family and community consequences.

 

With this year's theme, "For the Health of It: Early Education on Alcoholism and Addiction," the month of April will be filled with local, state, and national events aimed at educating people about the treatment and prevention of alcoholism. Local NCADD Affiliates as well as schools, colleges, churches, and countless other community organizations will sponsor a host of activities that create awareness and encourage individuals and families to get help for alcohol-related problems.

 

For more information, visit NCADD's website here.

NEWS FROM CARON
New England Gratitude Breakfast
Saturday, May 2, 2015
9:00 - 11:30 AM
Endicott Estates, Dedham, MA

We joyfully invite you, our regional Caron alumni, families and friends for a morning of fellowship, sharing and gratitude. 

Hear our special guest speaker's message of hope: Mike Early Chief Clinical Officer/Clinical Advisor to the President. Then enjoy a personal recovery messages from local alumni. Spend some time with us connecting to those who are also on this journey of recovery for life!

To register: contact Jamie Demmi - 800.768.2332, ext 6110 or www.caron.org/events.
NATIONAL PREVENTION WEEK
National Prevention Week is a SAMHSA-supported annual health observance dedicated to increasing public awareness of, and action around, substance abuse and mental health issues.  National Prevention Week 2015 will take place May 17-23.  

Do you want to plan an event for Prevention Week?

Click here for more information and access a free toolkit to get started!
SHEDDING LIGHT, SHEDDING SHAME
Wednesday, May 27 - 7:00 PM
Wellfleet Preservation Hall
 
SAVE THE DATE

Opioid Abuse Prevention & Education in Schools:  Impacting Student Success

DCU Center, Worcester

May 15, 2015

8:30 AM - 3:00 PM (sign in 7:45-8:30)

 

This conference is being held as the opioid crisis impacts everyone in our state. It is for School Nurses, Guidance Counselors, School Psychologists, and School Administrators.  Dr. Ruth Potee will be speaking on the impact of substances on the developing brain and how this negatively impacts academic success.


 

Joanne Peterson from Learn 2 Cope will be offering resources for educators and families dealing with this issue. Karen Jarvis Vance will be speaking about the positive impact of SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment) screening in her school district, and more.  Cost: $75 pp. (includes breakfast, lunch and all printed materials)

 

Registration available at www.neushi.org.

Mental Health and Law Enforcement Conference
Focus on Special Populations
Friday, June 6th, 2014
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Fitchburg State University

The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Presents the 4th Annual Mental Health & Law Enforcement Conference: Focus on Special Populations.  This conference is for Police and First Responders, Emergency Service providers, Department of Mental Health, NAMI, Legislators, and other interested parties.  This is a free conference, but there is limited space, pre-registration is required.  


 

To register, please here.  Please register by May 28, 2014. 

For questions please email [email protected].

COMMUNITY FORUM
Combating Cape Cod's Substance Abuse Epidemic
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Centerville Library

A non-partisan, FREE, public information forum, "Combating Cape Cod's Substance Abuse Epidemic: What's working? What's missing? What can we do?" will be held on June 10, 2015 from 7:00-9:00 PM at the Centerville Library, 585 Main St., Centerville. 

Topics will include: Prevention, Intervention, Treatment, Recovery, & Support. Please RSVP to Gerry McGowan at [email protected] or 508/428-5960.  Sponsored by the Barnstable Democratic Town Committee

View  flyer for more information.
NEWS FROM GOSNOLD ON CAPE COD
Sticker Shock

On Saturday, April 25, 2015, dozens of youth group volunteers from Cape Cod Church teamed up with Gosnold on Cape Cod to spend their morning at 17 Falmouth liquor stores placing 11,000 stickers on customer bags. The stickers had a common message: "Parents Who Host Lose the Most: Don't be a party to teenage drinking." 


 

The objective is to encourage customers not to purchase alcohol for minors, and to remind them that it is illegal to do so. It also reminds parents not to host parties where alcohol is available to underage youth-especially during celebratory times such as homecoming, holidays, prom, and graduation. This is the fourth time that every liquor store in Falmouth will be participating in this bi-annual event.


 

For more information, click here.

ANALYSIS OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE ON CAPE COD: A BASELINE ASSESSMENT

The Barnstable County Regional Substance Abuse Council has completed an Analysis of Substance Abuse on Cape Cod: A Baseline Assessment.  View the Full Report here, and the Executive Summary here.

 

The purpose of this report is to provide a snapshot of substance dependency, and the related costs, for Barnstable County, Massachusetts. It has been created to inform programming and policy needs to be defined by the Barnstable County Regional Substance Abuse Council.  The Council's goal is that Barnstable County will have a coordinated and comprehensive regional approach to substance abuse across the continuum of prevention, treatment and recovery, harms reduction and law enforcement.

 

If you have questions about the report, please contact Vaira Harik.

NEWS FROM SAMHSA
New Study Examines Missed and Misdiagnosed FASD

 

The February 2015 issue of Pediatrics features an article summarizing an archival study of missed and misdiagnosed cases of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). 

 

The results of this study reported that 86 percent of cases with FASD diagnoses were either unrecognized (80%) or misdiagnosed (6%) at referral in this sample of foster- and adoptive-care populations. When replicated in other study sets, these findings would have significant implications regarding the need for increased FASD training and diagnostic capacity nationwide.

 

The SAMHSA FASD Center for Excellence has developed a summary that examines the findings and their importance to public health policy going forward.

 
To read the summary, please click here.
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Nearly 1 in 10 full-time workers have had a substance use disorder in the past year

A new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) indicates that 9.5 percent of full-time workers (ages 18 to 64) experienced a substance use disorder in the past year.  The report shows that an average of 8.7 percent of full-time workers used alcohol heavily in the past month. Heavy drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks on the same occasion on five or more days in the 30 days.  The report also indicates that 8.6 percent of full-time workers used illicit drugs in the past month.


For more information, click here.
RESEARCH AND REPORTS
A new SAMHSA report Tracking Heroin Use in the United States: 2002 to 2013 shows that while incidence of heroin use is still relatively small compared with other illicit substances (e.g., marijuana, prescription drug misuse), it rose significantly over the past 11 years.

Repeated alcohol exposure during adolescence results in long-lasting changes in the region of the brain that controls learning and memory, according to a research team at Duke Medicine that used a rodent model as a surrogate for humans.

 

The study, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, provides new insights at the cellular level for how alcohol exposure during adolescence, before the brain is fully developed, can result in cellular and synaptic abnormalities that have enduring, detrimental effects on behavior.

E-NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
Did you know that a full archive of the previous editions of this e-Newsletter are available on the Barnstable County Human Services Department website?

View past editions of the Regional Substance Abuse Council e-Newsletter and the Human Services Department e-Newsletter at www.bchumanservices.net and click on "E-Newsletter".
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MUTUAL SUPPORT GROUPS
Learn to Cope  
Learn to Cope is a support group for parents, family members, spouses, and caregivers who have a family member who is addicted to opiates, alcohol, or other drugs.

Learn to Cope offers experienced facilitators, resources, informational material, guest speakers (in long term recovery or professionals in the field), overdose education, and Narcan enrollment at all weekly meetings.  

Weekly meetings are held on Tuesdays 7:00-8:30 PM at the Yarmouth Police Station, One Brad Erickson Way. For more information call (508) 738-5148 or visit their website.

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Parents Supporting Parents 
Parents Supporting Parents is a group of people who have come together as parents and family members coping and dealing with children/loved one's addiction.

Their mission is to support, strengthen, and educate one another as they share their lives.  Their goal is to help their loved ones find and live in recovery, and for all members to live a healthy lifestyle.

Weekly meetings are held on Monday 6:30-8:30 PM  at Mashpee TV, 168 Industrial Drive, Mashpee, MA 02649. To learn more, view the Parents Supporting Parents Facebook page.
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Mothers Helping Mothers
Mothers Helping Mothers is a support group for women struggling with the emotional difficulties associated with addiction and recovery during the pregnant and postpartum phases of life.

Free childcare is provided during the meetings by The Children's Study Home.  Anyone planning on attending the meeting and needing childcare is asked to call ahead.  All ages are welcome. 

Weekly meetings are held every
Tuesday 7:30-9:00 PM at the John Wesley Methodist Church in Falmouth at 270 Gifford Street and every Monday 5:30-7:00 PM at the Federated Church in Hyannis at 320 Main Street. 

For more information, contact Deborah at (774) 392-0446 or Danielle at (508) 209-7533
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Alateen
Alateen is a fellowship of young Al-Anon members, usually teenagers, whose lives have been affected by someone else's drinking.  
 
There are two regular meetings run by Cape Cod Alateen: 
 
Wednesday - 7:00-8:00 PM in S. Dennis:  Church of the Nazarene, 209 Upper County Rd.
Friday - 7:30 - 8:45 PM in Cataumet: Cataumet Methodist Church, 1091 County Rd. 

For more information, call 508-394-4555 (M-F 10AM - 3PM) or visit their website at www.capeteens.com.
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Nar-Anon
Nar-Anon Family Groups is a twelve step fellowship that offers a recovery program for those affected by someone's addiction.  The only requirement for membership is that there be a problem of addiction in a relative or friend.

Nar-Anon is adapted from Narcotics Anonymous and uses Nar-Anon's Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions, and Twelve Concepts.  

Weekly meetings are held Friday nights 6:00-7:00 PM at St. David's Episcopal Church in South Yarmouth.  For more information, visit the Nar-Anon website.
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Gosnold Family Support Groups
The Gosnold Reaching Out program is a resource for family members and loved ones affected by addiction. It assists the family at all stages of addiction through education, intervention, and support. 

Information and Education Forums help family members gain a basic understanding of the signs and symptoms of addiction, treatment options, and stages of recovery. An educated and supportive family has a positive impact on treatment outcomes.

To learn more about these groups, view the Weekly Family Support Group flyer. New contact information: Mary Fisher, 844-558-4357, mfisher@ gosnold.org.
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Other Resources
Al-Anon - The primary purpose of Al-Anon is to help families and friends of alcoholics. Members of Al-Anon learn to live happily whether the alcoholic continues to drink or not. We learn that alcoholism is a disease and that we are not alone. 

Alcoholics Anonymous - Alcoholics Anonymous is an international fellowship of men and women who have had a drinking problem. It is nonprofessional, self-supporting, multiracial, apolitical, and available almost everywhere. There are no age or education requirements. Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about his or her drinking problem.

Narcotics Anonymous - NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. This is a program of complete abstinence from all drugs. There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using.
MASSACHUSETTS SUBSTANCE ABUSE HELPLINE

For tens of thousands of Massachusetts resident struggling with alcohol and other drug related issues, (800) 327-5050 is an important number.   

 

The Massachusetts Substance Abuse Information and Education Helpline provides free and confidential information and referrals for alcohol and other drug abuse problems and related concerns.  The Helpline is committed to linking consumers with comprehensive, accurate, and current information about treatment and prevention services throughout Massachusetts.  

 

Services are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.  Language interpreters are always available. 

 

For online service and more information, click here.

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E-NEWSLETTER ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS
To submit materials, please contact Samantha Kossow at [email protected] and include the following information:
  • Descriptive Title
  • Brief Description of the Content 
  • Relevant attachments, submitted in PDF or text format 
  • Website link if available 
  • Contact information of the person submitting the information the contact person for the event 

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Posting of articles submitted for publication in the Barnstable County Regional Substance Abuse Council E-Newsletter is at the discretion of the Department.  All articles must be submitted in text format to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.  To request this newsletter in alternate formats, please call Kathie Callahan at (508) 375-6628 or TDD at (508) 362-5885.