Plus: Advocating for naloxone, and Andrea Auxier takes over at Aware Recovery Care
By Ellie Jensen
New & Next: Community
Vital Strategies Launches a Virtual Overdose Memorial
The public health organization Vital Strategies recently launched a virtual memorial honoring those who lost their lives to a drug overdose. The project was inspired by the AIDS quilt and similarly aims to inspire empathy and innovation. A large-scale national advertising campaign accompanies the memorial and pushes to make life-saving resources more available. Go here to view the memorial or add a tile for a loved one.
New & Next: Policy
Advocating for Access to Naloxone
The American Medical Association (AMA) recently reached out to the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) pushing for the overdose-reversal drug naloxone to be made more available. Despite the medication’s proven effectiveness, it is currently only available with a prescription, making it difficult to obtain. The AMA’s letter to the ONDCP requests that naloxone be made accessible over the counter in order to provide another resource to combat the overdose epidemic.
New & Next: Industry
A New President at Aware Recovery Care
Connecticut-based Aware Recovery Care, which provides addiction treatment and other support services to clients in their homes rather than in-care facilities, has appointed Andrea Auxier, PhD, as president of the company. Previously, she was chief growth officer for Aware Recovery Care.
“As we strive to transform even more lives with Aware’s care, it’s the perfect time to even further position ourselves as a company to help anyone in need discover that hope and help for addiction is available, and that recovery is possible,” said Steve Randazzo, CEO of Aware Recovery Care. “Andrea, with her experience and compassion, is the fit to help us do that.”
Auxier has a background as a clinical psychologist and healthcare executive, previously holding positions at Quartet Health, New Directions Behavioral Health and Beacon Health Option. She has also been involved in the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Health Center Program, serving as director of research at Colorado’s Health Center Controlled Network and clinical consultant to the Bureau of Primary Health Care.
New & Next: Webinars
A Four-Part Series on Family Intervention
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation will host a series of webinars on interventions that emphasize the role of family members in supporting people with addiction. The webinars, which will take place each Friday in March from noon to 1 p.m. EST, will explain how treatment professionals can arrange interventions that lead to long-term success, as well as methods to empower family members in supporting their loved ones’ recovery. Registration for all four parts of the series, including “Focusing on Long-Term Success,” on March 4, is open now.
