Waging a Counterattack Against Opioids in the Workplace and at Home

Description: 

The construction industry has been adversely impacted by the nation’s ongoing opioid crisis. Understand the human and financial toll of opioids in the construction industry. Discover how 3 leading gateways for new persistent opioid use are creating new challenges for employers and families:

1.      Prescriptions for on- and off-the-job injuries

2.      Surgeries

3.      Diversion of leftover opioid prescription from injuries and surgeries

Meet Kerri Rhodes, a mother who shares her family’s personal story of losing their son to addiction that began after surgery for a sports injury. The Rhodes family learned the hard way that selecting the right pain management matters. Kerri will share how non-opioid pain management ensured a safe surgical outcome for surgery for the same sports injury sustained by her daughter. Kerri will share key insights gained about addiction from this grief and healing journey, including volunteer work.

Learning Objectives:

1.      Understand how the construction industry continues to be impacted by the lingering opioid crisis

2.      Learn how the body’s response to the reward/pleasure neurotransmitter “highjacks” the brain and reinforces addiction

3.      Learn how non-opioid pain medication can reduce the risk of addiction and address surgical pain management

4.      Discover how multimodal pain relief using over-the-counter medications are better suited for surgical pain relief with three times the pain relief than opioids.

5.      Understand how employers can help protect health plan members and dependents from unnecessary risk of opioids during surgery.

Cal Beyer, Certified Wellness Practitioner (CWP) is Vice President of Workforce Risk & Worker Wellbeing, Holmes Murphy. He serves on the Executive Committee for the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and the Advisory Groups for MindWise Innovations, Youturn Health, Goldfinch Health, and the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. He helped CFMA launch the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention in 2016. Contact Cal at cbeyer@holmesmurphy.com or 651-307-7883. https://www.holmesmurphy.com/construction-wellbeing-model/

 Kerri Rhodes is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT). She serves as the Director of Behavioral and Mental Health Division for the Chesterfield County (VA) Sheriff’s Department. She previously served as Trauma Therapist in the Helping Addicts Recover Progressively (H.A.R.P.) program in the Chesterfield County Jail. She is mother of two children, Taylor her son, who tragically lost his life to an overdose in 2019 and Blair, her daughter is a senior at Virginia Tech. Kerri is a passionate crusader to destigmatize addiction and to help those with addiction or in recovery to find wellness through sobriety. Contact Kerri at rhodesk@chesterfield.gov