OUS to have opioid response training on Friday

Published 10:27 am Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Ohio University Southern will host two workshops on Fridayin response to the region’s opioid crisis. The sessions will provide training on Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment, or SBIRT.

Lyn O’Connell, Ph.D IMFT, and clinical coordinator of the MUSBIRT project at Marshall University, is the workshop presenter. The project is funded by a federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Grant.

OUS Dean Nicole Pennington, a member of the Ohio University Opioid Task Force, said it is important for the regional campus to provide education and training regarding the opioid epidemic in southeast Ohio.

“The Southern Campus and partners like Marshall’s SBIRT initiative must work together as the region strives to combat the current drug crisis,” Pennington said.

“As a participant in the Lawrence County Recovery Coalition, we wanted to bring Dr. O’Connell’s training to Ohio University Southern as a resource to the community,” said Sarah Diamond Burroway, director of External Relations and Workforce Success.

The workshop seeks to provide strategies for appropriate response to individuals impacted by drug abuse. SBIRT is an evidence-based approach, which promotes universal screening to identify use, early risks, and abuse and appropriate intervention.

Participants will meet in the Caucus Room of the Academic Center at the Ironton Campus on Friday.

A morning session for the public will be presented from 8:30-11:30 a.m. The afternoon session, targeted for campus employees and collaborating partners, will be conducted from 1:30-4:30 p.m.

To register, email workforcesuccess@ohio.edu. For more information, call 740-533-4593.