If you’re interested in learning the most updated information about ways to combat the opioid epidemic, you won’t want to miss our August 24 breakfast forum being held at the National University of Natural Medicine. The event gets underway at 7 a.m. NUNM’s Radelet Hall, located at 2719 SW Kelly in Portland. Free street and campus parking will be available. Breakfast will be served starting at 7 a.m.
And, if you can’t attend the event in person, you can watch it on your IPhone or computer. We’re Livestreaming the event, which is a video live streaming platform that allows viewers to play the content via the web, iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV. People who register will receive a user name and password 48 hours in advance of the event.
We do have approval for 1.5 general continuing education credits from the Oregon Board of Naturopathic Medicine.
With the second highest rate of opioid drug abuse in the nation, Oregon has made national headlines – something everyone involved in healthcare is well aware of. What’s being done to stem this tide? How can practitioners and policymakers get a handle on this epidemic?
NUNM Health Centers Executive Director, Michael Sorensen notes “Natural medicine therapies have been proven to help manage pain and can address the critical need to find ways to reduce opioid dependence. We’re excited to participate in this important event with the Oregon Health Forum and our medical colleagues.”
Here are just a few of the questions our panel of experts will discuss:
- What place should opioids play in chronic pain management?
- Considering the risk of tolerance and dependence, as well as what we’ve seen in this epidemic, when patients’ medications are withheld and they turn to heroin, how are the treatments for opioid addiction and chronic pain related?
- What policy changes have we seen to date and what can we expect to see happening in the near future?
- What assessments and evidence-based interventions need to be incorporated into the current healthcare delivery systems to improve patient outcomes with respect to chronic pain?
- When we talk about the opioid epidemic, it’s often considered the patient’s fault that they are addicted. What does the biopsychosocial model of care have to say about this and who is responsible for changing the prevailing attitude?
You’ll hear from:
- Dr. Katrina Hedberg, MD, MPH, Health Officer & State Epidemiologist, State of Oregon
- Dr. Paul Lewis, MD, MPH, Metro Portland Health Officer
- John Muench, MD, MPH, Director of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University
- Krista Nelson, MSW LCSW OSW-C, Providence Cancer Center
- Dr. Andrew Suchocki, MD, Medical Director for Clackamas FQHC
- Dr. Kevin Wilson, ND, Private Practice Hillsboro and faculty at NUNM,
Our moderator will be Dr. Regina Dehen, ND. LAc., CMO and Dean of Clinics. NUNM, The Quest Center for Integrative Health, and the Oregon Physical Therapy Association have stepped up to help sponsor this educational event. Oregon Health Forum is hosting this event in collaboration with the National University of Natural Medicine.
If your organization is interested, please contact Diane Lund-Muzikant, executive director.
Oregon Health Forum is the educational arm of The Lund Report and collaborates with other nonprofit organizations to sponsor its monthly breakfast forums.
