La Red Goes Purple to educate Georgetown community
La Red Goes Purple was held Oct. 18 at its Georgetown campus to raise awareness and provide support for those struggling with opioid use disorder.
“Addiction is a medical disorder. A lot of people struggle with trying to understand it that way,” said La Red Behavioral Health Center Director John Russum. “It’s like someone with depression. It’s someone who has bad coping skills – they have developed negative coping skills.”
At La Red’s Georgetown campus, there are two teams in place to deal with anyone struggling with mental health or addiction. The behavioral health team conducts screenings with patients who might show signs of struggle or folks who come in seeking help.
“If anybody ever has questions about making an appointment here, we tell them about an intake with a nurse in the behavioral health department – basically an interview. This lets the team know what’s going on and which provider they need to see, because we have providers for outpatient therapy, medication management and substance abuse,” said Anabell Arias-Rosario.
La Red’s services are not just for those struggling, either. The health teams encourage families and friends to educate themselves on the best ways to help. Once a patient is ready for help, a therapist will reach out with the hope of earning trust and building a safe place for the person to be honest.
“They eventually open up, but if they don’t feel comfortable answering any questions, they’re not pressured into answering them,” Arias-Rosario said. “They are not pushed, and if they decide they don’t want to receive services, it’s totally fine. They can call back anytime.”
Community events like the one Oct. 18 allow the health teams to meet the people face to face. La Red Goes Purple featured free health screenings, Narcan training, and the dinner bell of free tacos. The venue opens up a dialogue between professionals and those struggling or their loved ones. Arias-Rosario said often people will tell them they have a family member struggling.
“What we do is give them a pamphlet of information about the services that we provide, the number, our locations, and tell them about our services so that maybe they tell their loved one and they come,” Arias-Rosario said.
La Red emphasizes its services are for anyone who needs help. It has Spanish interpreters available to help assist patients or families at all three locations. Screenings are more or less open conversations for the health team to consider which treatment plan might be the best for the patient. Sometimes the health team discovers a possible issue during an unrelated screening.
“If something is going on with the patient in our primary care, they call over to our mental health division and say, ‘Hey, we have a patient here and we have our concerns; can someone come over and talk to them?’” Russum said.
Russum said he or a nurse with the mental health team will then check in with the patient. Their goal is to determine if the issue is anxiety and depression or substance abuse.
“If it fits in one of those categories once we talk, we will ask if they want treatment, and if they say yes, we will perform a warm handoff,” Russum said.
A warm handoff is when a patient is seen right away for the issue they are having; they do not have to wait for an appointment down the road. Once the patient is checked by the correct medical team, treatment can begin.
Confidentiality, within the limits of the law, is another aspect of La Red’s treatment. Russum said they must report certain things, including a breach of probation, a health professional abusing prescriptions or someone under court supervision checking in.
“If you’re just coming off the street, you’re using and you’re afraid that your job may find out or that you could get arrested, we’re not going to make a report if you’re in treatment,” Russum said.
More information about the mental health and substance abuse disorder services La Red offers is available at laredhealthcenter.org or by calling 302-855-1233. La Red has locations in Georgetown, Milford and Seaford.
