First Step Home

Bridget Watson, Summer 2019

First Step Home is an addiction recovery center for women that provides residents with a safe environment for substance use disorder recovery and the tools to maintain long-term sobriety. This summer at First Step Home I was able to peer into the lives of these women both medically and socially, learning about the many obstacles and hindrances that are typical of an early addict's recovery. I spent my time divided between a few places: with nurse Jen tending to everyday needs of the women at the shelter, with the OBGYN learning how to detect fetal heartbeats and perform Leopold's maneuvers to establish the fetus' position, in the medication room administering maintenance medications, and in group sessions teaching the women various health topics. My project funded various items that I identified as tools that could improve lifestyle for the women and their children at First Step Home, which is unique as it is the only addiction recovery center in Cincinnati that allows women to have their children with them during the recovery process. One of my group classes focused on the benefit of establishing an exercise routine in early addiction recovery, as it lessens withdrawal symptoms and the chance of relapsing. However, the women at First Step Home had no resources to guide their exercise efforts, so I used my grant money to purchase yoga mats, free weights, and resistance bands, in the hopes of pushing the organization in a direction that favors exercise more and realizes its importance as a tool in recovery. I also purchased some coloring books and colored pencils for the children, which I think will be especially useful during visits with the doctor in which the children need a distraction so the client can get the most out of her medical appointment. Furthermore, working in the medication room helped establish a baseline understanding of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), which is an important aspect of most of the clients' recoveries. My summer internship at First Step Home gave me a real-life glimpse into the lives of addicts and the unique stories that go along with every recovery. It is one thing to learn about addiction in the classroom, but seeing it in person further solidified my view of addiction as a disease and helped me to understand that as a future physician I have a role to play in helping this population. Getting to know these women for who they are, rather than seeing them and labeling them as addicts, has helped me to understand that complexity of this disease and the true struggle that early recovery presents for every person struggling with addiction.

Download Bridget's poster (.pptx)