SAFE Solutions

SAFE Solutions is a free, user-driven platform that serves as a functional collection of research, educational materials, and promising practices that can be tailored and support strategic response efforts to substance use disorders. The SAFE Solutions platform is beneficial in multiple ways, but particularly helps community leaders build capacity.

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Strategies

I want to assist my community with: Reducing Injury, Morbidity, and Mortality

I want to assist my community with: Resources to Respond

I want to assist my community with: Reducing Stigma

I want to assist individuals with: Access to Education and Basic Economic Security

I want to assist individuals with: Safe, Stable, and Affordable Housing

I want to assist individuals with: Optimizing Health and Well-Being

I want to assist individuals with: Creating Strong Social and Community Connections

Prevention

The field of prevention emphasizes factors that contribute to one's overall health and wellbeing, aiming to promote health development and prevent problems before they occur. It is a multidisciplinary field developing strategies that prevent or reduce occurance, severity, or negative outcomes of disease, substance use, violence, injury, and mental illness. Prevention strategies can be addressed at various levels - individual, family, and community. Learn more about prevention strategies in our overview article, or continue to the specific wiki articles linked below.

 

Early Intervention

Early intervention is not a strategy listed on the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Continuum of Care; however, it edges between prevention and treatment and is often used in both areas of service. In the IOM prevention category, early intervention is focused on indicated populations — those who have initiated some form of substance use. Learn more about early intervention strategies in our overview article, or continue to the specific wiki articles linked below.

Harm Reduction

Harm reduction is a strategy which minimizes the impacts of drug use and drug-related harms. Harm reduction supports interventions which are aimed at reducing negative effects without necessarily completely extinguishing potentially harmful behaviors. In a substance use disorder setting, harm reduction seeks to keep individuals alive while minimizing negative health impacts that can result from active substance use. It is not the primary goal of harm reduction strategies to get someone into treatment and recovery. Learn more about harm reduction strategies in our overview article, or continue to the specific wiki articles linked below.

Treatment

Treatment services for individuals with a substance use disorder diagnosis include assessment, the development of a treatment plan, implementation of the treatment plan, evaluation, case management, extended care, and monitoring. Programs vary in length and intensity, and they may include approaches like medical stabilization/detox, counseling and behavioral healthcare, and rehabilitation services. In treatment, the ASAM Criteria (American Society Of Addiction Medicine) is the most widely used and comprehensive set of standards for placement, continuation of  services, and determining levels of care for individuals seeking treatment for substance use disorder. Level of care recommendations and treatment plans are developed based on multidimensional patient assessments that consider the patient’s medical, psychological, and social needs to help determine what services are a best fit to meet individual and/or patient needs. Additionally, when utilizing ASAM criteria, these guideline assessments take into account an individual's strengths, needs, resources, and recovery capital. Learn more about treatment strategies in our overview article, or continue to the specific wiki articles linked below.

Recovery

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) states, "Recovery is a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential." This definition is widely applicable since it does not mention the cessation of substance use. For many individuals in recovery, the term is not built solely on the alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs' (ATOD) termination of use. This is where harm reduction strategies or medicated assisted recovery can intersect. Recovery is a complete change in thought, behaviors, identity, and for some, a change in social circles. It is crucial for non-recovery individuals to understand that this shift can be transformative. Individuals who have experienced this transformation will tend to incorporate their recovery pathway into their identity. Moreover, that recovery path consistently changes — it is an evolutionary journey. Learn more about recovery strategies in our overview article, or continue to the specific wiki articles linked below.