Recovery

Peer Support Webinar on Making Meaning RESCHEDULED!

The peer support webinar, Making Meaning: Using the Sixth Stage of Grief in Peer Work has been rescheduled!

Please join DBHDS and OMNI for this interactive webinar on Wednesday, July 27th from 11:30am-1pm Eastern Time. (If you already registered, you do not need to register again. The webinar link will stay the same, just update the date on your calendar!)

Please register and/or share with your peer networks. Thank you!

What? A guided discussion for peer supporters and their supervisors

When? NEW DATE! Wednesday, July 27th from 11:30am-1pm Eastern Time

Where? Zoom – Please register by Thursday, June 23rd to receive the meeting link: https://bit.ly/3xqbILn

Why? The sixth stage of grief is called “making meaning,” and it is what allows us to not only live with a loss but what helps us transform that loss into something meaningful in our lives. There is a lot of discussion about how people in recovery, or who are seeking recovery, experience the first five stages of grief (denial, bargaining, anger, depression, acceptance), particularly in early recovery. This webinar will discuss the literature on all six stages of grief and how they present as part of recovery, with a main focus on how making meaning is relevant to peer supporters and their supervisors on professional and personal levels.

Join DBHDS and OMNI for an interactive webinar on Making Meaning: Using the Sixth Stage of Grief in Peer Work!

Join DBHDS and OMNI for an interactive webinar on Making Meaning: Using the Sixth Stage of Grief in Peer Work!

What? A guided discussion for peer supporters and their supervisors

When? Friday, June 24th from 11:30am-1pm Eastern Time

Where? Zoom – Please register by Thursday, June 23rd to receive the meeting link: https://bit.ly/3xqbILn

Why? The sixth stage of grief is called “making meaning,” and it is what allows us to not only live with a loss but what helps us transform that loss into something meaningful in our lives. There is a lot of discussion about how people in recovery, or who are seeking recovery, experience the first five stages of grief (denial, bargaining, anger, depression, acceptance), particularly in early recovery. This webinar will discuss the literature on all six stages of grief and how they present as part of recovery, with a main focus on how making meaning is relevant to peer supporters and their supervisors on professional and personal levels.

Together we’ll collaboratively explore:

  • What are the six stages of grief and how to they relate to recovery and peer work?

  • How can you use the framework of “making meaning” in your life and peer support work?

  • How can you lay the groundwork to support meaning making?

Defining the Peer Role Webinar Follow up

On April 5th, DBHDS and the OMNI SOR Recovery team hosted a guided problem solving discussion for peer supporters and their supervisors to understand how building shared expectations and distinct roles can help reduce conflict on your team. Thank you to those who were able to join us! If you were not able to join or would like a refresher on what was covered, please find the slides from the webinar here as well as a handout that contains a summary of the main information points we discussed and guiding questions here. If you were unable to join us, the handout will still be useful in helping you and your team define and articulate the Peer Supporter role at your organization.

Information about this webinar and the previous one hosted on burnout in the peer supporter role are posted on our Peer Supporter Webinar page. As always if you have any questions feel free to reach out to use at SORSupport@omni.org!

Peer Supporters in EDs

The DBHDS SOR team and the OMNI SOR Recovery team are interested in learning about peer support provided in emergency departments (ED) across Virginia. With this aim, we have created a survey to gather information on this topic that will be included in a public dashboard to educate legislators, program directors, and the larger community about these services.

If any peer supporters (e.g., Peer Recovery Specialists) associated with your CSB provide support to emergency department patients, regardless of if they are SOR funded, please complete this survey with as much information as you have.

Click here to fill out the survey. It is estimated to take approximately 10-15 minutes. If you have any questions about the survey or additional information you’d like to share, please reach out to OMNI SOR Recovery team at sorrecovery@omni.org. Thank you for your time and participation!

Join the DBHDS SOR Team and OMNI Recovery Team for an interactive webinar on Peer Role Definitions!

What? A guided problem solving discussion for peer supporters and their supervisors hosted by DBHDS and OMNI Institute

When? Tuesday, April 5, 12 - 1:30 pm EDT

Where? Zoom, Please register here bit.ly/3KWy0YZ by April 4th to receive the Zoom meeting link.

Why? Do you ever have trouble explaining your job as a Peer Supporter? It can be hard to put into words, especially when the role can differ so much from place to place! Join us to brainstorm and discuss how we can describe Peer Supporter roles, and how this can help make implementing a peer support role easier!

Addressing Burnout in Virginia's Peer Support Field

Last week the OMNI SOR Recovery Team hosted a webinar on Addressing Burnout in Virginia's Peer Support Field. As it is also relative to you all's work, we wanted to share it here as well. Some prevalent challenges regarding peer burnout that emerged from this session were:

  • Supervisors and team members would benefit from a better understanding of what a peer does and doesn't do. Avenues to addressing this barrier could be supervisors and team members learning more about what defines the role broadly, or agencies/teams defining the role more clearly.

  • Peers need time off or work schedule adjustments to recuperate from burnout, but a culture reluctant to be open about health care providers' mental health and taking time off leads to this not happening.

  • Lastly, there is a need to value the expertise peers bring to this work more, especially surrounding peers' resiliency and from non-peer staff.

You can find a link a video summary of the information here and a PDF overview of this information here. Both are also listed on the Peer Recovery Research page of the SOR Support website.

This video includes the information covered in the session as well as the discussion questions posed during it. Both are included as we hope that this recording can help facilitate a mini-session on burnout with appropriate groups of staff at your agency. The recording will prompt you to first listen to the information provided and then pause the video at each set of discussion questions.

BARC-10 Score Feature of the GPRA Survey

We wanted to make sure you all know about the helpful BARC-10 score feature we have developed as part of GPRA survey.

The BARC-10 (Brief Assessment of Recovery Capital-10) is a validated questionnaire that assesses an individual’s recovery capital, or the characteristics and assets that a person develops on the recovery journey from a substance use disorder. These 10 questions (Part H of the GPRA) ask about 10 domains that contribute to an individual's recovery capital. The BARC-10 can be used to support an individual's recovery process through highlighting current areas of strength and where they would benefit from more resources/support. The BARC-10 Information Sheet, located under Supporting Materials on our Resources page (and linked here), has more examples of how to use this survey in a treatment and recovery setting.

Completing Section H of the GPRA survey automatically generates a BARC-10 Score, which ranges from 10-60. A score of 47 is associated with a higher chance of long-term remission. You can track this score over time to see change in a client's recovery capital.

When completing a GPRA in the online system, check the box highlighted in the screenshot to receive a client's BARC-10 score included in an email to you. You can also add another staff member's email if desired, in the next question.

As always, please reach out to SORSupport@omni.org if you have any questions or concerns.

Seeking your SOR II Success Stories!

DBHDS and OMNI are seeking your SOR II Success Stories and wanted to make it easy for you to contribute throughout the year! We want to hear from you about how your SOR II funding is supporting the services you provide in your community.

We have prepared a very simple survey that will easily allow you to share some of your Success Stories on an ongoing basis. You can also attach documents or photos to better document your stories if you wish. Click here to share.

We’ve also added a new page to the website from which you can also access the survey. Here is the new page and link: https://www.virginiasorsupport.org/success-stories

We look forward to reading what you share!

Recovery Housing Questions

DBHDS is looking for some info on how CSBs collaborate with recovery housing organizations. Please fill out this short survey (less than 5 minutes) by December 15 to help inform them. If you have further questions, please reach out to the SOR grant management team:

  • Mike Zohab - mike.zohab@dbhds.virginia.gov

  • Angela Weight - angela.weight@dbhds.virginia.gov

  • Patrick Wessells - patrick.wessells@dbhds.virginia.gov

Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZDWYZ8C

OMNI Offices Closed from December 24-January 3

Greetings! This is to alert you that OMNI will be officially closed from December 24th through January 3rd, reopening on Monday, January 4th. We are closing our office so that our staff can enjoy the end of the year and re-energize for 2021. We hope you can find some time to do the same!

Our entire team will be unavailable for project-related support during the closure dates. Any emails or voice mail messages will be reviewed and responded to as soon as possible starting January 4th. Please note that the GPRA online surveys and all resources on our website will still be available during this time, but you will not receive updated tracking sheets in your Dropbox folder.

Please let the OMNI team know if you have any questions about our closure or anticipate any concerns. Though our official closure is from the 24th to the 3rd, please try to wrap up TA requests by Monday, December 21st so we can get you the info you need before our closure.

Wishing you a happy and healthy end of 2020 and a bright start to 2021!

Sincerely,

SOR Support Team

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200#200.112 Per 2 C.F.R. § 200.112-1113 The Federal awarding agency must establish conflict of interest policies for Federal awards. The non-Federal entity must disclose in writing any potential conflict of interest to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in accordance with applicable Federal awarding agency policy. Failure to adhere to these statues will result in immediate termination of funding.

Virginia’s State Opioid Response (SOR) grant is awarded at the discretion of DBHDS and SAMHSA. All recipients of SOR funding supports evidence-based prevention, treatment and recovery services to address opioid and stimulant misuse and use disorders, including for cocaine and methamphetamine. The SOR grant is not intended to be utilized as a long-term or permanent funding source. All SOR proposals must include a realistic plan for financial sustainability beyond the grant period.