Adventist Health Sonora Starting Series Focused On Opioid Safety
Sonora, CA — Tuolumne County ranks at the top when it comes to opioid use in the state of California, and Adventist Health Sonora is launching a free new education series in response.
The pain management and opioid safety series begins this month and continues through June. It will provide information about chronic pain and effective non-opioid treatment options. Each session will include a 40-minute presentation by Ariana Abid, MD, a board-certified and fellowship-trained Addiction and Family Medicine physician. There will also be 20 minutes set aside at the end for questions and/or discussion.
According to the latest data from the California Department of Public Health, Tuolumne County ranks first in the state for morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) prescribed per resident. This was a focus of a recent Mother Lode Views show with Tuolumne County Health Officer, Dr. Kimberly Freeman.
Dr. Freeman says, “Tuolumne County has a long-standing problem with substance use, including opioids. The reasons behind this and the resolutions are multi-factorial, so we are addressing this from several facets including harm reduction, prevention, education of providers and the public, as well as from the aspect of preventing and resolving adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
Each month the Adventist Health series will have a new topic. For January, it is “All About Pain – Expectations and Goal Setting.” It will be delivered first on January 4 and then repeated on the 18th, and 25th, from 1-2 pm on all of those days. They are being held at the Health Pavilion and Diana J. White Cancer Institute at 900 Mono Way.
Topics for the rest of the series are below:
February: Opioid Safety – Dependency and Addiction
March: Non-Opioids for Pain
April: Why Do I Need Physical Therapy?
May: Integrative Medicine
June: Interventional Pain Management
Preregistration for the education series is not required. For more information, call 209-536-5050. They will be held on Thursdays.
