Four County announces partnership with Sober Grid to deliver 24/7 Peer Recovery Coaching
Last Updated on September 3, 2019 by cassnetwork
Four County is pleased to announce a partnership with the addiction recovery digital health provider Sober Grid and their peer coaching service, Ascent. This partnership will enable Four County to deliver 24/7 certified peer recovery coaching to individuals in rural areas through the Sober Grid mobile platform.
Sober Grid delivers its certified peer recovery coaching services directly through the Sober Grid mobile app. This capability removes barriers such as lack of transportation, access to childcare, privacy concerns, social anxiety, etc., and enables individuals to access recovery help where and when they need it. This option to offer immediate support is critical to improving outcomes and reducing relapse rates. The Sober Grid app is a cutting-edge addiction recovery platform that connects a thriving global community of almost 180,000 peers to provide one another with 24/7 support. Sober Grid has partnered with leading addiction researchers from institutions including Harvard Medical School, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, and the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, and has received funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation to create a robust, evidence-based platform and to develop innovative capabilities such as predictive analytics to identify heightened risk of addiction relapse and advanced scientific tools for outcomes data gathering.
Sober Grid’s Ascent Coaching is already serving Medina County Drug Court in Ohio, numerous Ohio-based treatment agencies, and is in partnership with County Mental Health Boards including Cuyahoga and Clark Greene Madison. The Ascent team is now thrilled to expand into Indiana to serve individuals seeking recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.
The benefits of peer recovery coaching are well documented. They include increased treatment engagement, better whole health, and reductions in emergency room visits, re-hospitalizations and incarceration recidivism.
Carrie Cadwell, CEO of Four County, has expressed enthusiasm for the initiative, noting that “Four County is a rural, critical access mental health and substance use provider. Like most rural Indiana providers, to build capacity in an environment of workforce shortage and increasing demand for access, we began to shift our focus to live video, online, and mobile solutions. After reviewing various options, the choice to partner with Sober Grid’s Ascent Coaching was obvious. The daily access to support for those in recovery and 24/7/365 access to peer recovery coaches was a perfect complement to our clinical services.”
“Our initial goals are to use the platform in connection with drug court treatment services in Miami County and then expand from there. However, we believe that we can not only make the connection to our clinical service lines but also assist in building the needed Indiana peer recovery workforce that could ultimately become a part of Sober Grid’s Ascent network. Four County maintains approved trainers of the CCAR Recovery Coach Academy curriculum. Making the link between supporting recovery through treatment, training those in recovery to support others, and ultimately connecting the dots to workforce opportunities both in person and through mobile technology is full circle approach.”
Four County is a non-profit Community Mental Health Center serving the communities of North Central Indiana for over 40 years. Four County starts as the designated community mental health center for Cass, Miami, Fulton, and Pulaski Counties. To better meet the need of North Central Indiana, we have expanded our services to Howard County, Tipton County, White County, and Clinton County. Four County is deeply committed to increasing access to a continuum of care while integrating physical and behavioral health well-being for the over 8,000 consumers we serve annually. We are rural behavioral health specialists and strive every day to expand access and quality care in all counties we serve.
SOURCE: News release from Four County