{"id":6529,"date":"2021-02-08T13:05:44","date_gmt":"2021-02-08T13:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rmff.org\/?post_type=vitality-magazine&p=6529"},"modified":"2022-06-02T13:28:34","modified_gmt":"2022-06-02T13:28:34","slug":"safe-syringe-access-and-support-program-provides-roadmap-to-long-term-recovery","status":"publish","type":"vitality-magazine","link":"http:\/\/old.rmff.wrhosting.net\/my\/insights\/vitality-magazine\/safe-syringe-access-and-support-program-provides-roadmap-to-long-term-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"Safe Syringe Access and Support Program \u101e\u100a\u103a \u101b\u1031\u101b\u103e\u100a\u103a\u1015\u103c\u1014\u103a\u101c\u100a\u103a\u101b\u101a\u1030\u101b\u1014\u103a\u1021\u1010\u103d\u1000\u103a \u101c\u1019\u103a\u1038\u1015\u103c\u1019\u103c\u1031\u1015\u102f\u1036\u1000\u102d\u102f \u1015\u1031\u1038\u1015\u102b\u101e\u100a\u103a\u104b"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Studies show that participants in a syringe services program are five times more likely to enter drug treatment than injection drug users who do not participate in such programs. For persons who inject drugs, the one-time use of sterile syringes is the safest, most successful method for limiting the transmission of blood-borne infections. <\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Just ask Haley Bohannon, Peer Recovery Coach for the Marion County Public Health Department\u2019s syringe services program. When Bohannon was actively using drugs and needed a needle, she didn\u2019t consider if the needle potentially had hepatitis C because her addiction was so strong. Today, she is four-and-a-half years sober, and through her role as a Peer Recovery Coach with the Safe Syringe Access and Support (SSAS) Program, she works to help others avoid the same choices she had to make while managing her substance use disorder. <\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n

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\u201cWhen our clients learn that I have been in their shoes, they\u2019re very surprised,\u201d Haley said. \u201cTo be able to share my strength with them is really rewarding.\u201d<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div><\/section><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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As a Peer Recovery Coach, Haley supports people with substance use disorder, working out of a mobile unit used to operate the county\u2019s first legal syringe services program. The Marion County Public Health Department (MCPHD) unveiled its program in April 2019 with funding support from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation.<\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/section>\n\n

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Employees like Haley are helping to make a difference in Hoosiers\u2019 lives. Within the first month of opening, a male client visited the mobile unit for sterile syringes. He continued to use drugs, but more recently, he came to the clinic looking healthier. \u201cHe told me he was able to begin substance use disorder treatment and that during a time when he didn\u2019t have anyone, our services helped to save his life,\u201d Haley said. \u201cI\u2019m glad we can be there for people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n

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In addition to needle exchange services, the SSAS Program also provides clients:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n

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