By Andy Thomas, Vice President National Provider Relations at axialHealthcare One evening in early January, my wife and I took a drive to see our soon-to-be new home. Arriving at the neighborhood, we talked about our future and what was to come. It was a cold, dark Minnesota winter night, but it was a happy one filled with excitement and joy. It hasn’t always been …
Administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provides a clear picture of substance use and behavioral health issues within the United States. Since the program began in 1971, the use of drugs and alcohol and the incidence of behavioral health issues has …
Life was chaotic for Karen as a child. Her parents divorced when she was two—in part because of her father’s alcohol use—leaving her mother to raise seven children alone. Although her mother did the best she could, Karen’s childhood was filled with chaos and anger rather than love and support. At the age of twelve, …
Tom grew up in a blue-collar, working class family and can trace alcoholism back to his great-great-grandfather. When he was 14 years old, he discovered alcohol at a family party and immediately liked the way it made him feel, “I no longer felt alone. It gave me confidence, I felt like I was the life …
Tom’s Story of Recovery: “There is hope and you can get better.” Read More »
Jake grew up in a large and loving family, always did well academically, and had a great group of friends. He started experimenting with drugs and alcohol at a young age and vividly remembers thinking that he finally felt normal for once in his life. Things progressed through high school and got significantly worse during …
Jake’s Story of Recovery: “It is absolutely worth it.” Read More »
From a young age, Andy always felt like he was a little bit different than his friends. It seemed like everybody else had gotten a manual on how to live life that he didn’t receive. This feeling combined with a significant childhood trauma led him to seek relief from his pain, and he found it …
Andy’s Story of Recovery: “It’s a process of allowing yourself to be open to help.” Read More »
NASHVILLE, Tenn. axialHealthcare, a care optimization company navigating substance use issues for patients, providers, and health plans, today announced it has partnered with national nonprofit Shatterproof to support its strategy to end substance use disorder (SUD) stigma. “Addiction stigma is still pervasive within our communities, and until society changes its view on the disease, the millions of Americans with …
Shatterproof and axialHealthcare Partner to End Substance Use Disorder Stigma Read More »
The company also unveils new branding to reflect expanded scope NASHVILLE, Tenn. axialHealthcare, a care optimization company navigating substance use issues for patients, providers, and health plans, today announced it has closed $15 million in equity financing to accelerate its expansion into the substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery sector, led by previous institutional …
Words are powerful. Help reduce negative stereotypes about addiction by changing your language. Although there’s been a concerted effort to bring awareness to the importance of person-first language, stigmatizing language related to substance use disorders is still widely used in our communities, perpetuating negative perceptions of those suffering from addiction. In a recent post on …
Words Matter. Especially When it Comes to Addiction. Read More »
The increasing number of opioid overdose deaths over the last decade has resulted in a public health response centered around thoughtful opioid prescribing practices and careful consideration of risk versus benefit when initiating opioids for pain treatment. In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released guidelines around prescribing opioids for chronic pain, …
