The Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority’s Substance Abuse Taskforce is hosting a community wide training on Wednesday, May 4. The Pill Problem: Narcotic Addiction Update 2011 “Pain Pills Kill: Save the Community” will be held at the Birdtown Gym from 8am – noon. The purpose of this training is to educate the community on the narcotics problems on the Reservation, what is being done about it and where to go from here.
In 2006, the Substance Abuse Taskforce was created to improve the treatment of patients with addiction. It meets monthly and includes members from the Cherokee Indian Hospital’s medical, nursing, and pharmacy staff as well as staff from Analenisgi. The mission of this taskforce is to improve health care delivery to patients and families suffering with the disease of addiction. This will be the group’s second community wide training. The first was “Treatment Works, People Recover” held in 2007.
Dr. Mary Anne Farrell, Chairperson of the Substance Abuse Taskforce, is excited about the upcoming training. “The pill problem has become a major concern in the Cherokee community causing premature death and suffering for patients and families. The goal of this training is to talk openly about this issue from a disease model perspective. I believe that if the health care systems and the community can work together we can make advances in solving this problem.”
The target audience for this training is health care professionals, community members and anyone interested in healing addiction.
To register for The Pill Problem: Narcotic Addiction Update 2011 “Pain Pills Kill: Save the Community” training, please send your name and contact information to SATaskforce@cherokeehospital.org. The registration deadline is Monday, April 25.
– Cherokee Substance Abuse Taskforce
