The Kodiak Area Native Association (KANA) is requesting Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) funding for the KANA Tribal Opioid Response (TOR) Program. KANA TOR Program will provide a comprehensive and multifaceted approach serving the population of focus, all Alaska Native/American Indian (AN/AI) patients receiving opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment at KANA, to address the opioid epidemic in Kodiak, Alaska.
Kodiak Island is a 100-mile long island on the south coast of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the roughly 30-mile wide Shelikof Strait; it is surrounded by smaller islands of various sizes in the Kodiak Archipelago. KANA provides comprehensive services to over 2,500 AN/AI residents in the Kodiak region, and operates through resolutions from nine regional Tribal Governments under P.L. 93-638, the Indian Self-Determination Act. KANA provides primary medical, dental, and behavioral health services, as well as wrap-around services to families who struggle for resources to all AN/AI population of Kodiak and the surrounding villages.
In the Kodiak region, behavioral health, including substance use, has been identified as the priority health need by residents. KANA has seen large increases of opioid use, especially heroin, with our patients in recent years. In 2015, KANA provided services to three OUD patients, which increased to 37 OUD patients in 2018, 32 of whom reported heroin as the primary substance.
As an accredited Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH), KANA believes that an opioid response should encompass a comprehensive and integrated approach. The proposed project includes Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), OUD treatment, physical therapy, as well as alcohol and drug free social activities for OUD prevention, treatment, and recovery in the City of Kodiak and the predominately Alaska Native villages of Akhiok, Larsen Bay, Old Harbor, Ouzinkie, and Port Lions.
KANA TOR Program goals and strategies include: (1) increasing the capacity and scope of medical and SUD providers to improve recovery outcomes of AN/AI patients diagnosed with OUD by allocating a SUD Counselor to the TOR Program, training MAT, substance use disorder (SUD), and village-based providers, enhancing village OUD treatment, and providing Naloxone kits; (2) improve long-term recovery outcomes of AN/AI OUD patients by providing drug and alcohol free social engagement; and (3) provide alternative pain management for OUD prevention with the inclusion of a Physical Therapy Assistant and purchasing physical therapy supplies.
Through TOR funding, KANA proposes to serve 20 AN/AI patients with a primary OUD diagnosis in year 1, and 23 patients in year 2. These patients will be enrolled in IOP, MAT, and mental health services, as appropriate, and will remain involved in services for an average of 6-9 months. This is a total of 43 unduplicated patients who will receive OUD services over the entire project period.