Treatment

Bright Lights During Dark Times: Clifford’s Spotlight

When speaking to Clifford, it becomes apparent very quickly that he has a big heart and an even bigger sense of duty. Clifford is the night shift nursing team lead who had to step up in a big way when Grace, Bellwood’s head of nursing, was nearly locked out of the country after visiting her family on vacation. When Grace was overseas, coronavirus was just background noise. Numbers were beginning to grow in other areas of the world, but in Canada, most of us were blissfully unaware of the impending lockdown.

Addiction Treatment and Recovery in a Time of Social Distancing and Coronavirus

Addiction Treatment and Recovery in a Time of Social Distancing and Coronavirus

Times are strange. With the constantly developing national and global coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, people with addiction and mental health disorders may experience unique challenges with self-quarantine and isolation. We’ve had many calls to our Admissions Counsellors to discuss our infection prevention plan and learn about the precautionary measures that we’re taking to protect our patients … Read more

Differences Between Alcohol and Opioid Use Disorders

How Do Alcohol Use Disorder and Opioid Use Disorder Differ?

Understanding the differences between alcohol use disorder and opioid use disorder requires understanding how each substance affects the body. Alcohol and opioids have different short- and long-term effects, and differences in withdrawal symptoms, psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy (treatment using medication), and how people overdose. As a result, the best practices for treating opioid use disorder differ from … Read more

Occupational Therapy in Recovery: More Than Just Return-to-Work

Written by Kathryn Decker, an occupational therapist who works at Bellwood Health Services. When someone first hears the term occupational therapy, people tend to think about assisting patients in their return-to-work process after an illness or injury. While occupational therapists (OTs) sometimes help patients return to their jobs, this is only one small component of … Read more

Drug Decriminalization: The Success of the Portugal Model

Feature by EHN Guest Writer Written by Adam Fisher, a former Director at Renascent and EHN Canada, writer, researcher, and photographer. He has been in recovery since June, 2004. Throughout the 1990’s Portugal was in the depths of a national epidemic, averaging 360 drug overdose deaths per year, in a country of only 10 million … Read more