Philadelphia, PA has the highest overdose rate of the ten largest cities in the U.S. at 89.7 per 100,000 in 2023 (PDPH, 2023). People with substance use disorder (SUD) often experience a wide variety of personal, social and environmental barriers to connecting to and stabilizing in sustained SUD treatment. These include medical and mental health conditions, housing, transportation, income and employment, childcare, and stigma from traditional healthcare services. Integrated Care is not new, but usually explores how medical services integrate behavioral health into their programs. The Merakey Parkside program is traditionally behavioral health-centered program, focused on substance use disorders, but has integrated a social outreach team, a police diversion team and an integrated health infectious disease program along with child play area, employment resources, and transportation assistance and relationships with local hospitals and outpatient clinics to promote a system of care approach to substance use and addiction treatment. This presentation will focus on our mobile outreach teams and how they connect people with SUD to sustainable outpatient care with extensive resources.
Josh Vigderman MA, LPC, Sr Executive Director, Merakey, Maple Glen, PA
David Malloy MSW, Executive Director of Mobile Services, Merakey, Philadelphia, PA
Stewart, R. E., Shen, L., Kwon, N., Vigderman, J., Kramer, S., Mandell, D. S., Candon, M., Lamb, R., & Rothbard, A. B. (2021). Transporting to treatment: Evaluating the effectiveness of a mobile engagement unit. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108377
Anderson, E., Shefner, R., Koppel, R., Megerian, C., & Frasso, R. (2022). Experiences with the Philadelphia police assisted diversion program: A qualitative study. International Journal of Drug Policy, 100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103521
Langabeer, J., Champagne-Langabeer, T., Luber, S. D., Prater, S. J., Stotts, A., Kirages, K., Yatsco, A., & Chambers, K. A. (2020). Outreach to people who survive opioid overdose: Linkage and retention in treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2019.12.008
Philadelphia Department of Public Health. Unintentional Drug Overdose Fatalities in Philadelphia, 2022. CHART 2023; 8(3):1-7.