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Stories from doctors, nurses, and therapists dealing on a daily basis with the opioid crisis in Appalachia should be heartbreaking. Yet those told here also inspire with practical advice on how to assist those in addiction, from a grass-roots to a policy level. Readers looking for ways to combat the crisis will find suggestions alongside laughter, tears, and sometimes rage. Each author brings the passion of their profession and the personal losses they have experienced from addiction, and posits solutions and harm reduction with positivity, grace, and even humor. Authors representing seven states from northern, Coalfields, and southern Appalachia relate personal encounters with patients or providers who changed them forever. This is a history document, showing how we got here; an evidenced indictment of current policies failing those who need them most; an affirmation that Appalachia solves its own problems; and a collection of suggestions for best practice moving forward.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments viii
Foreword by Lauren Sisler
Preface
Wendy Welch, Ph.D., MPH
5,000 Year Ghazal (Molly O'Dell, MD, MFA, and
Wendy Welch, Ph.D., MPH)
Six Minutes (Theresa Ann Poling, FNP)
Perspectives from a Prescriber (Manju Pushkas, MD)
Injecting Hope with Sublocade (Daleen Berry)
Rockabye (Rondalyn Varney Whitney, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA
This Is Your Body on Drugs (Tauna Gulley, Ph.D., FNP-BC)
Hoofbeats of the Zebra (Susan M. Hamrick, AASRT, RT, ARDMS, RVT, RDCS)
The Seeker and the Provider (Brandon Whited, LPN)
City of Solutions (Lyn M. O'Connell, Ph.D.; Jodi Maiolo, MPH,
and Stephen Petrany, MD)
A Clinician's Guide to Changing Your Mind (Issaiah Wallace, MSN, PMHNP-BC)
Why Addiction Care Is Primary Care (Melissa L. Zook, MD, FAAFP, FASAM, AAHIVS)
Community Is the Vehicle to Recovery (Tanner Clements, M.Div., and
Andrea D. Clements, Ph.D.)
Mountain Doc (Willie Dalton, BS)
How We Got Here and How We Can Get Out of Here (Randall E. Jessee, Ph.D.)
The Bad Deborah Gold, in Conversation with Misty
Who Will Leave Harlan Alive? (Mary Jewell Allen, DO)
White Coat Man... Marcus Oglesby, Creek Don't Rise Band
Data Make You Credible, but Stories Make You Memorable (Michael Meit, MA, MPH)
About the Contributors
Index
About the author
Wendy Welch is the executive director of the Graduate Medical Education Consortium of Southwest Virginia where she advocates for social justice and policy planning in equal measure. She lives in Wytheville, Virginia.
