something's gotta give

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.
- Nelson Mandela

i had the pleasure of being shadowed at my job last week. it is not my favorite experience. a stranger following you, listening to your dialogues, and offering feedback and criticism to you as part of their job. we are grant-funded however, and the manager of the grant has their responsibilities, just as i have mine. and you never know what you have to learn.

it turned out to be a very pleasant experience. our clinic was cancelled that day as the attending was persuaded to have labor induced and gave birth to twins. so the person responsible for shadowing and i had lunch and talked about the program, and then she sat in on 3 individual sessions i had scheduled for that afternoon.

there is a movement underfoot in our state to examine and reshape the idea of substance abuse treatment and referral in the medical setting. i actually believe it's probably long overdue. the indulgences and over-indulgences of tobacco, drugs, and alcohol do have health implications and they tend to be serious. they also tend to be costly.

tomorrow i will be attending a conference put on by the grant program which is really a brainstorming session. they are expecting 150 persons and have some relevant speakers. i have been asked to join some others and moderate discussions at my table and to report to the larger group. i am fortunate enough to be bringing the HIV perspective to the conversation. and i shouldn't have to tell you how intrinsically linked HIV and substance use/abuse are.

our state traditionally has been ranked 48th in spending for substance treatment. this is not a fact that i am boasting about. it is merely a reading of the importance this issue has in Colorado. so in the sbirt screening process, referral to appropriate treatment modalities is paramount. but i fear they are limited, hard to find, and challenging to discern the appropriate fit. my hope is that tomorrow's dialogue will signal some change in this attitude and create some momentum that collaboration and systemic change needs to happen.

i mean, if we don't believe someone getting clean and sober is important, or that moderation is actually a virtue and saves lives, how likely is any individual to believe it either?

today's sound choice is the highly underated royal crown revue with "something's gotta give" - yes that's a rat pack remake... i certainly had my days of being a rockabilly/swing afficianado... i even learned how to do the lindy hop..

it's a brand new world

the schedule is new. the people are new. the place is new. the duties are completely new.

i am slowly feeling as if i am assimilating into this new reality. i am sure that the challenges will come forward, but as of yet it has been a fairly painless transition. i am to be working in 3 clinic locations during the week and have yet to really experience the scattering of intention that may bring. i know that these are the busiest hiv clinics in the city and there will be ample opportunity to interact with people with many levels of relationship to drugs and alcohol.

my position is as an sbirt screener. it is part of a statewide effort to offer individual level interventions to persons with regard to their imbibing habits. it is said that 5 percent of coloradans have an addiction or serious abuse issue, 25 percent have heavy and over-use issues and that the other 70 percent don't fall into those categories. it is also believed that interventions with a few from the 70 percent category may prevent them from moving into one of the higher risk categories, especially if they are offered in a health care setting. to me, this seems it could be a blessing.

today's sound choice is silversun pickups with "panic switch" i really loved their last big hit "lazy eye". i still listen to it regularly. there's something about the sound that hooks me...