Tag: rehabilitation

A Better Way to Register New Voters, A Talking Cure for Homicide and More

Posted on by robbie

 

Here’s What Happened When Oregon Automatically Registered Its New Voters, Washington Post

When you apply for a drivers license in Oregon, you’re now automatically registered to vote. State officials say the DMV program — the nation’s first opt-out law — is the simplest way to bolster voter rolls and keep addresses up-to-date — important in a state that votes by mail. So far, in the first week, four times as many new voters signed up as the Beaver State used to register in a month. It remains to be seen whether they actually cast a ballot.

This Police Department Stops Disputes Before They Turn Deadly, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

It’s a rule of thumb for criminologists that crime spikes in the summer: not only are more people outside, but heated arguments also sometimes lead to violence. In Rochester, N.Y., beat cops now track tiffs across the city and send a summary of the dispute to a central database, where analysts can predict which are most likely to escalate. While this predictive policing may sound like a real-life “Minority Report,” law enforcement’s seven-month-old strategy appears promising and is being looked at by other departments nationally, including Milwaukee.

After Rehab, This Valuable App Keeps Drinkers and Drug Abusers Sober, New York Times

A former addict walks out of rehab and is suddenly bombarded by temptations: old drinking buddies, familiar haunts, relief from stress and anxiety. A mobile app, A-Chess, checks in throughout the day to help alcoholics avoid the bottle. It’s pre-loaded with high-risk locations like bars and liquor stores the person frequented. When nearby, the app automatically sends a message, “Are you sure you want to be here?” and alerts other contacts the patient has pre-programmed, like his sponsor or a family member. Along with virtual counseling and other smartphone apps, these modern tools are helping with the hardest part of getting clean: staying that way.

Punk and Buddhism Discover the Means to Recovery

Posted on by robbie

When it comes to punk, you probably think that the anti-establishment cultural movement contributes to drug usage, not prevents it.
But one former addict has found that those interested in the punk lifestyle don’t have to be drug users.
Dharma Punx — the rehab program that’s now spreading across the world — can be traced to tattooed Noah Levine. Levine suffered through his own bout with drug addiction and is now helping others overcome through his program, which combines punk and Buddhist teachings.
Raised as a Buddhist, Levine battled depression as a child and eventually turned to drugs and other criminal activity. After being arrested multiple times, paying fines and doing community service, Levine returned to Buddhist teachings and turned his life around. In 2004, his memoir Dharma Punx hit the bookstands and became the name of the new recovery program.
Levine’s program, Refugee Recovery, doesn’t follow the typical 12-step program. Instead, Levine lowered it to Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths on suffering: (1) reality of suffering, (2) the origin of suffering, (3) the cessation of suffering, and (4) the true path to cessation found in the Eight-Fold Path, which is one of the main teachings of Buddhism. Although Levine tweaked the Eight-Fold Path slightly to include an essential component in the recovery process: Community.
Not only did Levine create a framework for meeting, but there’s also one for training meeting facilitators, too. The meeting starts with the leader reading this introduction: “My role is not authoritative. I am not an empowered Buddhist mentor teacher; I’m here to facilitate the group and lead our discussion.” From there, the group descends into a 25 to 30 minute meditation followed by another reading. Then, a topic is brought to the group by the facilitator and the floor is opened to members. Afterwards, there is another reading, a closing, and the request for a suggested donation of $5.
Refugee Recovery is an unconventional rehabilitation with an even more unconventional leader, but it is rapidly gaining popularity. With groups meeting in San Francisco, Santa Monica, Berkeley, Hollywood, Santa Cruz, Nashville and Oklahoma City, Dharma Punx may be the new rising star of rehabilitation.
MORE: This Traveling Wagon Delivers Free Healthcare

How a Retired Ski-Lover Turned an Old Injury Into a New Industry

Posted on by robbie

54-year-old Kim Gustafson didn’t plan on starting a new business when he retired to Vail, Colo. But after his arthritis and the rigors of skiing exacerbated an old knee injury, Gustafson became part of the growing trend of “senior entrepreneurship.” Five surgeries forced him to wear an unwieldy brace on the slopes — that’s when he had the idea for pliable tights that could support active people dealing with similar injuries. Rather than the restrictive brace, Gustafson’s prototype used bands of rigid fabric sewn into spandex and nylon tights to keep the knee naturally aligned.  He partnered with the biomechanical scientists at the Steadman Philippon Research Institute, a branch of the clinic where he got his treatment, and in two years founded a company called Opedix to produce the tights and bring them to market. Gustafson isn’t alone. According to the New York Times, 23% of new business owners are now aged 55 to 64, a nine-point increase since 1996. In other words, the golden years are getting a lot more golden.