Wednesday, December 6, 2023
12/6/2023
In relationship to Ninilchik Traditional Council's (NTC) ongoing mission to promote access to health and education resources, the Ninilchik Traditional Council Community Clinic has been providing Medically Assisted Treatment (MAT) since 2014. With $250,000 in funding, NTC will enhance their addiction clinic and ensure MAT is available to all our OUD patients, regardless of race, based on diagnosis, need, risk of relapse, and assessment recommendations. We will achieve this by offering direct peer support, hosting community recovery events, community education, increasing outreach, and offering case management and peer support in our primary care clinic. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Alaska's Kenai Peninsula has the highest rate in Alaska per capita of opioid prescriptions, which are higher in primarily white, rural communities with high unemployment rates. Since 2016, the NTC recovery services has served approximately 200 people who report using opioids. Of our current 65 active patients, 4% are Alaska Native/Native American, 3% report Hepatitis C infection at intake, 15% receive services via telemed, 75% reported opioid and stimulant use at intake, and 38% reported a history of IV drug use. In 2021, we admitted 29 patients, 97% are low-income and qualify for Medicaid, 0% are Alaska Native, 45% are 20-35 years old, and 41% reside in Ninilchik Tribal Boundaries. Our current service gaps include: 1) Peer support and/or case management in community/primary care to provide screening, medication treatment education, care coordination, risk reduction education, and clinic flow. 2) case management support in primary care for assisting patients with lack of access to receive services in their home communities. With TOR funding for MOUD, NTC will enhance their current addiction medicine services to: 1) Include case managers in our primary care setting to ensure medical MOUD patients have linkage to care. 2) Utilize peer support to provide outreach activities and community education from a peer support framework. 3) Continue providing substance use outreach and education. 4) Increase solution-focused interventions, referral resources, motivational interviewing, social and emotional support. 5) Provide education, screening, care coordination, risk reduction interventions, testing, and counseling for people with OUD who are at risk of hepatitis C. 6) Partner with other primary care providers to increase community access to MOUD once patients have been stabilized in our primary care setting. These enhancement to NTC MAT will increase community access to MOUD, encourage sustained abstinence from Opioids, reduce risk of relapse, reduce risk of overdoses, reduce risk of infectious disease, reduce risk of diversion, reduce risk of recidivism, increase the number of individuals receiving MAT, with an overall observed decrease in illicit opioid drug use and prescription misuse.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
