Independence of Recovery

The INTERSECTIONS Exchange team is joined by Doug Hovey, CEO of Independent Living in Newburgh, New York to discuss the importance of peer support and the need to merge addiction and mental health infrastructures. Around 25:00, Dr. Force, O’Grady, and Hovey discuss the exciting potential for new technology to revolutionize mental healthcare and increase access to people in need.

Topics Discussed

• History of Independent Living 
• Doug Hovey’s journey to the recovery field
• ‘Peer rapid deployment’ to respond to hospital and crisis calls
• Silos in mental health and addiction resources
• Digital mental health platforms
• Deinstitutionalization of mental health

Resources

• Doug Hovey LinkedIn
• Independent Living 
• What does peer support look like?
• I don’t want to give up on my loved one with an addiction, but I’m burned out
• Will I get in trouble for drinking or using at school?
• What happens if I relapse? 

Key Quote(s)

• “It’s important to have [a provider] connected to you, but unless you can actually give it the time that it takes to make progress and address social determinants as well as addiction…it’s a struggle.” – Andrew O’Grady
• “When you call [Independent Living], we don’t stop you at the front door and ask for your insurance. We don’t ask you a thousand questions. We ask: how can we help you?” – Doug Hovey
• “This idea of arming your case workers with technological support in order to encompass more people at any time is incredible—because that’s the beauty of it, it can be accessed at any time.” – Dr. Larry Force
• “We need to build the services that we would want to access ourselves.” – Dr. Larry Force