Road to recovery from opioid use disorder starts with compassion

After a decade of reporting on opioid addiction in the United States, journalist and author Beth Macy has come to a few conclusions.

First, we all have to do a better job of educating ourselves about opioid use disorder and what works to counter it. Second, if we want to help people and their families survive opioid use disorder, we must begin by recognizing their basic human needs. Third, sometimes, that starts with something as simple as a sandwich.

“It took me 10 years to see what my own blind spots were about the war on drugs, and how it’s harming communities,” said Macy, an Ohio native and author of the bestselling book “Dopesick,” which is the basis for the Emmy-nominated series on Hulu. Macy also recently published “Raising Lazarus” about places around the country where people have successfully changed the outcomes for people with opioid use disorder. “The war on drugs is harming communities — not just communities of color but all communities. That’s why I wrote ‘Raising Lazarus.’ I really felt we needed to do a lot more.”

In “Dopesick,” Macy chronicled the story of Tess Henry, a young mother and former straight-A student from Virginia who became addicted to opioids, tried to get treatment, and had run-ins with the criminal justice system. Henry attempted more treatment and eventually found herself living on the streets of Las Vegas. She was murdered; her body was found in a dumpster on Christmas Eve.

Henry had told Macy once that what she really needed was “urgent care for the addicted.” But neither she nor Macy knew what that might entail. In researching “Raising Lazarus,” Macy believes she may have found some answers.

According to studies Macy reviewed in reporting “Raising Lazarus” abstinence-only treatment works for about eight to 12 percent of people with opioid use disorder. Medication-assisted treatment has a much higher success rate, above 60 percent.

“Medications can be really critical bridge builders,” Macy said. “And I didn’t understand that until I started doing this research for this book. We have to provide options and meet people where they are.”

In researching for “Raising Lazarus,” Macy, who grew up in Urbana and graduated from Bowling Green State University, followed people who are, quite literally, meeting people where they are. One woman in western North Carolina hosted pizza parties for those with opioid use disorder at her house, where a nurse practitioner would come to offer testing for hepatitis C. Another woman in Indiana convinced the local court system to provide space inside the courthouse for a drug diversion program. Counselors offer guidance. Medical providers offer treatment. There are snacks and encouraging messages on the walls.

Food as a connection point might seem simple. But Macy’s reporting showed that meeting basic needs can help people connect, eventually, with meaningful treatment.

In one story in “Raising Lazarus,” a kind woman working at the front desk of a treatment center asked a new patient how he was and what he needed. The man told her he was hungry. “I need a sandwich,” he said. The woman got him a sandwich, and the man got into treatment.

He ran a syringe exchange and recovery program in rural New York.

“People can get better, and when they do, they can be amazing,” Macy said.

But for that to happen we have to rethink how we approach treatment and people with opioid use disorder, she said.

“We really do need that ‘urgent care for the addicted,’ where people can access a variety of treatment options and have those supported by other social supports,” Macy said. “Almost all of the people I followed are food insecure. They need clean needles. They need their teeth fixed. And when you provide those things to them, when you address those basic needs, that becomes the gateway for treatment.”

Challenge what you know about mental illness and addiction at BeatTheStigma.org.

This article was written on behalf of the Ohio Opioid Education Alliance, a public-private partnership focused on beating the stigmas associated with mental illness and addiction.