249: Exploring Justice, Recovery, and Public Policy with Researcher Meghan M. O'Neil, PhD
The Addicted Mind Podcast
Duane Osterlind, LMFT
4.8 • 621 Ratings
🗓️ 5 September 2023
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a society where the realms of justice, recovery, and public policy intersect in myriad ways, understanding these intersections and how they impact individuals is crucial. There are barriers, often intertwined with justice system involvement, which can pose significant challenges. For instance, minor offenses can escalate into arrest warrants, posing a significant challenge for those already grappling with recovery and housing insecurity.
Join Duane in this riveting conversation with Meghan M. O’Neil PhD, Research Scholar, Drug Enforcement Policy Center, The Ohio State University, who dedicates her work to confronting racial and economic inequality's impacts on health. Duane and Meghan delve into the civil justice issues that can create substantial barriers for individuals in early recovery. Megan emphasizes the critical importance of housing in the recovery process, and the struggles faced by individuals in early recovery in securing a stable living environment.
Meghan also gives a first-hand look at her groundbreaking Removing Barriers Experiment, which promises to revolutionize opioid treatment centers. Meghan's unique insights, fueled by her family's struggles with substance misuse, shed unique light on the multifaceted challenges that people in early recovery face. Her innovative approach to breaking down barriers includes the creation of online court resources for those in recovery. She shares her journey of connecting with the local recovery community, facilitating access to vital services, and fostering open communication with the court system.
Leave this discussion with a profound understanding of the hurdles that individuals in recovery must overcome – from navigating an often unforgiving justice system to the struggle of securing stable housing.
In this episode, you will hear:
- Insights on public policy, racial and economic inequality
- How Meghan’s Removing Barriers Experiment aims to address the opioid crisis
- Creating online court resources for recovery
- Removing barriers to recovery and re-entry
- Civil justice barriers for vulnerable populations
- Housing's importance in addiction recovery
- Issues in the housing and justice system
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Supporting Resources:
Removing Barriers Experiment: https://meghanoneilcom.wordpress.com/removing-barriers-to-recovery/
Episode Credits
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Addicted Mind podcast. My name is Dwayne Austerlund. I'm your host, and we are on to another episode. Our guest today is Megan O'Neill. And Dr. O'Neill studies vulnerable populations in America, particularly focused on racial and |
| 0:23.3 | economic inequality and how these mechanisms impact health and well-being. She conducts evidence-based |
| 0:29.9 | research to make for better public policy. Dr. O'Neill holds an MA in quantitative methods |
| 0:36.1 | from Columbia University and a PhD in sociology from |
| 0:40.2 | Sunny Albany. As a research faculty at the University of Michigan, funded by the National |
| 0:45.7 | Science Foundation, she created and implemented the Removing Barriers Experiment in Opioid |
| 0:52.3 | Treatment Centers. She is the first generation in her family to attend |
| 0:56.1 | college and is the granddaughter, daughter, and sister of wartime U.S. veterans. And she herself |
| 1:01.4 | has been impacted by premature mortality associated with alcohol and drug misuse. And this drives |
| 1:07.6 | her passion for informing better public policy for this vulnerable |
| 1:11.6 | population. So Megan is going to talk about her experiment, a randomized controlled trial, |
| 1:18.3 | removing barriers to recovery, community partnering for innovative solutions to the opioid |
| 1:24.1 | crisis. It is really amazing what Megan was able to accomplish with her team |
| 1:30.3 | to put this study together and to really be able to see the impact of how we can help this |
| 1:38.3 | vulnerable population get recovery. I could really feel Megan's passion for this work that it touches her deeply and her |
| 1:47.4 | heart is really in it to help all of these individuals who are struggling with substance use |
| 1:53.2 | disorder. So I think you get a lot out of this episode. And if you're getting a lot out of the |
| 1:58.5 | Addicted Mind podcast, please leave a review in iTunes or wherever you get your podcast. |
| 2:04.1 | I do read them. |
| 2:04.8 | They mean a lot to me. |
| 2:05.7 | Thank you so much for all the people that have taken the time to do that. |
| 2:10.2 | It really just helped the Addicted Mind podcast get found, and I really appreciate it. |
... |
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