People USA awarded Integrated Co-occurring Substance Misuse and Mental Health Treatment Service Grant by Putnam County

This program will support individuals in Putnam County with Opioid Use Disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health conditions through peer support and harm reduction for the broader Putnam County community.

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y., April 26, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- This program will support individuals in Putnam County with Opioid Use Disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health conditions through peer support and harm reduction for the broader Putnam County community. A "peer" is someone who has lived experience with mental health, substance use challenges, and/or trauma.

The exciting new addition in this grant is People USA's ability to hire a community-based Peer Navigator to Putnam County's substance use services. The Peer Navigator will meet an individual leaving inpatient rehab and help them successfully reintegrate into the community. The Peer Navigator will help the individual manage their discharge plan, connect with peer counseling intervention, join community support groups, and facilitate outpatient care referrals. By adding this peer support to the traditional system of care, it will significantly increase their levels of relatedness, social functioning, and engagement in outpatient care following inpatient discharge. Having peer support following inpatient treatment increases chances of successful recovery upon discharge.

In addition, People USA will implement a marketing campaign targeting all Putnam County residents using a harms reduction prevention education approach. The goal of the campaign is to engage directly with people who use drugs to reduce harm as well as reduce the stigma in the greater Putnam County community associated with substance use and co-occurring disorders.

Knowing that substance abuse can impact people across Putnam County, our marketing efforts will be focused on outreach to the entire community, including places not typically reached by similar campaigns. The campaign will be responsive to the diversity of Putnam County and our team will develop messaging and tactics tailored to address risks specific to the populations in Putnam County, such as age, gender and ethnicity.

People USA is a peer-run mental health non-profit that creates, provides, and promotes its own innovative crisis response, and wellness services.

To Learn More about People USA:

Website: https://people-usa.org/
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/peopleusanow

Media Contact

Denika Dixon, People USA, (845) 452-2728, [email protected], people-usa.org

SOURCE People USA