University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center has been awarded a $1.5 million grant to develop and implement alternatives to opioids within its emergency department. The grant comes from the US Department of Health and Human Services, and those alternatives would include acupuncture and music therapy. The Alternatives to Opioids Program aims to decrease opioid use in the department by increasing knowledge of integrative therapies, implementing these modalities within the department, and providing sustained outpatient follow-up
Dr Kiran Faryar, Director of Research in the hospital’s Department of Emergency Medicine, says “We are providing therapies that have never been implemented at this scale in the University Hospitals emergency department, in order to best care for patients with acute pain. When prescribing opioids there is always the potential for abuse. Data shows both music therapy and acupuncture improve pain and anxiety for patients with short term and long-term pain. This will be an evidence-based technique we can offer patients without the potential risk of substance use disorder.”
(University Hospitals Articles & News, 3 December 2024.)