Offering Compassionate, High-Quality Peer-to-Peer Support for Community Members with Substance Use Disorders

“I have the best job in the world,” said Steve Craig, a Peer Recovery Support Specialist and Project Director at the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma’s Perkins Family Clinic. According to Steve, the Clinic’s thoughtful coordination of care and innovative approach to providing peer services has had a large impact on the community. Within just four short years, the program has grown from just one part-time staff to thirteen full-time staff members. This has brought invaluable services to the over 900 enrolled Tribal members and 164,000 citizens who reside in the Clinic’s catchment area. 

Integrating Peers into Clinical Care
At Perkins, Peer Support Services, although housed within the behavioral health department, are integrated into primary care and the clinic’s medication-assisted treatment program. This allows staff to holistically support patients’ complex social and medical needs while meeting them in their recovery process.

At each primary care visit, patients are screened for substance use, and if needed, are referred to appropriate follow-up care, including Peer Support Services. Five days a week, a certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist is available and can immediately introduce themselves to newly referred patients. According to Steve, this immediate access is critical. “We need to connect with patients when they first seek care and are asking for help, so we don’t lose them,” said Steve. “It’s great when we can provide supportive care at the moment a person discloses their substance use.”

During the initial visit, a Peer Recovery Support Specialist meets with the patient to get to know them better and determine their needs. During these visits, Peers connect patients with behavioral health and community support services that may help their recovery. According to Steve, “the focus of Peers is to encourage, support, and provide resources to the patients that they interact with, without judgement.”

A Holistic Approach
In addition to managing a case load of up to 40 patients each, Peers are also instrumental in developing relationships outside of the clinic by participating in community outreach events, such as movie nights, chamber of commerce events, and wellness walks. They also host group meetings on a variety of topics, including wellbriety and positive Indian parenting.

In whatever spaces they occupy, Peers seek to help clients work toward recovery, reduce harm for those who continue to use substances, and cultivate opportunities where the community can come together to learn, heal, and move towards a healthier future.

One important healing space, says Steve, is the recently renovated Elder’s Garden. According to Steve, “participating in garden activities has helped individuals in recovery connected to their culture, not only by cultivating the ground and bringing life to vegetables, herbs, and medicinal plants, but also by growing their relationships with Elders. During youth and harvest events, Elders will share their wisdom, traditional knowledge, stories, values, and beliefs. We want to make sure that these important teachings get passed on.”

Looking to the Future
As an Air Force veteran, Steve would like to do more outreach to veterans to let them know what services are available. In addition, the program hopes to expand activities centered around positive parenting, get Elders and others more involved in the local garden, and work toward reducing stigma around harm reduction and peer support.

Connection to ECHO
The Peers at Perkin have found it helpful to talk with people doing similar work and have taken part in several Peer Recovery ECHO Program events. Participating has allowed them to become a part of a broader learning community and learn about a variety of topics, such as fostering community engagement in substance use disorder (SUD) services and the importance of self-care for Peers.

Learn More
If you’re a Peer Recovery Specialist and would like to learn what others are doing to support clients with SUDs, consider joining these Peer Recovery ECHO sessions. During sessions, you can present cases, receive recommendations from specialists, engage in a didactic session, and become part of a learning community dedicated to providing clients with SUDs the care and resources they need to thrive.