Elevate Health Promotes Overdose Awareness in New Podcast

August is National Overdose Awareness month and Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2021, is International Overdose Awareness Day.

Together, these events rank among the world’s largest annual campaigns to end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died, and acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind.

In recognition of these important observances, Elevate Health is kicking off a new podcast series, the first episode of which addresses opioid prevention locally, regionally and nationally.

The host of the initial episode in the series, titled “Community Care Conversations,” is licensed clinical social worker and therapist Kim Bjorn, Elevate Health’s Director of Clinical Integration and Transformation. Bjorn’s guest is Chelsea Amato, Program Manager of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s Opioid Task Force.

During the podcast, Amato, also a social worker by training, says opioid addiction in Pierce County is a community issue, not just an individual matter.

“Everyone has been affected by the opioid crisis. It cuts across race and class and ability and health,” says Amato, adding, “this isn’t a character flaw. It’s an illness.

Click below to hear the full conversation and stay tuned as we work to share this and other Elevate Health podcasts on additional listening platforms, including Google and Apple Music!