“With more education about opioids and medication-assisted treatment, we will make it through this crisis,” says Anita Kennedy, a certified recovery peer advocate and a peer engagement specialist.
In November 2016, Mount Sinai Beth Israel hired Anita Kennedy, a certified recovery peer advocate, as a peer engagement specialist in East Harlem. The role is funded by a grant from the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). Peer engagement specialists (Anita is one of two in New York City) use their personal experiences recovering from addiction to serve as a supportive resource for people seeking recovery. Her role was initially created in response to the neighborhood’s synthetic marijuana (known as “K2”) epidemic, but she covers addiction across the board, especially opioids.
Anita’s job involves going out into the community, including emergency rooms and on the streets, to engage with people struggling with substance abuse. Over the last couple of years, she has gained a reputation on the streets of East Harlem as someone people can turn to if they are ready to seek treatment. She says people routinely approach her on the streets or even on the subway in other parts of the city. “I don’t know how they know to talk to me,” she said. “People see me and, for whatever reason, they know I’ll be able to help them out.” And she and the city seem to be making inroads—in 2018, the number of deaths in New York City from opioid overdose fell from 1,082 to 1,044.
Once an individual has expressed an interest in recovery, Anita helps them get to a detox or inpatient rehabilitation program as well as to outpatient programs. She keeps in touch with them throughout the process, checking in regularly and building rapport. As they move through the system, Anita helps them build a recovery plan. The individuals decide how they define success, and Anita helps them achieve their goals by connecting them with the necessary services to make it happen. The recovery plan could include anything from setting up housing to scheduling dental work—anything that they see as a barrier to being successful, as defined on their own terms. She helps them monitor progress, following up to ask how to ensure their success will continue and what can be done next.
To achieve these goals, Anita helps peers learn and practice new skills such as how to use public transportation, parenting tips, and progressing with education like getting their GED degree. She also helps them learn and practice coping skills, like how to calm anger or how to deal with a triggering event via breathing exercises, journaling, reading, or taking a walk. She encourages them to re-engage in hobbies that they may have forgotten about that used to bring them pleasure and fulfillment. She also shows up to offer support when needed, such as court appearances and Social Security meetings, liaises with parole and probation officers, and facilitates support groups.
Anita’s role has expanded beyond helping individuals. She also spreads the word about Mount Sinai’s addiction treatment services at City Hall, health fairs, soup kitchens, the New York Public Library, halfway houses, and local police precincts. She routinely provides overdose prevention trainings by distributing Naloxone kits and showing people how to use them—in the month of June, she completed 143 of these trainings. “There’s nothing better than hearing that an organization was prepared for overdoses and saved someone’s life because of these trainings,” she said. She has administered Naloxone six times since she started. “They’re not pleased with you for saving their life,” she said. “You’ve basically ruined the best high they’ve ever had, so you need to be prepared for them to be combative.” In spite of this, all six people she rescued reached out to her for assistance, and she remained involved with their journey to recovery and rebuilding their lives.
“I vividly remember the first time I had to administer Nalaxone,” Anita said. “The person was taken to the hospital and entered a detox program, and is now in recovery. It was inspiring to see that I could help someone begin to get back to a more normal life, though I know it can be difficult and take time and support.” She added, “We are turning the tide with regard to opioid overdose deaths. With more education about opioids and medication-assisted treatment, we will make it through this crisis.”