A few members of an Alcoholics Anonymous group stood outside a church in Hershey on Wednesday night and waited. As a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus, they had canceled their scheduled meeting. They did not plan to enter the building or to come within six feet of each other.
But in the face of a pandemic, they wanted to gather in case someone arrived in need of help, according to an AA member and organizer who goes by Jane.
And a woman did appear near the church’s doors, Jane said. She was shaking. The woman approached the group, said she was four days sober, stressed and yearning for a drink.
“So we talked to her in an empty parking lot,” said Jane, who asked that PennLive not use her real name for this story. “By the time she walked away, it didn’t seem like she needed that drink anymore.”
Experts say substance abuse support programs remain vital resources to those in need while businesses close and social distancing practices expand. And several leaders involved with addiction support said they’re finding unorthodox ways to provide assistance, even as challenges related to the coronavirus mount.
These outlets are especially crucial during the coronavirus outbreak, because looming potential of illness and restrictions against gathering can lead to a spike in problems with addiction, according to Kristen Shirley, the director of the Substance Abuse and Violence Education Center at La Salle University.
“This is a stressful and uncertain time for all of us, and stress and uncertainty and loneliness can all be triggers for somebody dealing with any mental health issues, but certainly substance abuse,” Shirley said. “Being creative and trying to offer virtual and remote connectivity during these times is really important for anyone in our field.”
The Harrisburg Area Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous is working to achieve that kind of flexibility.
About 80 percent of in-person AA meetings in the area are canceled through at least the end of March, according to Jane. But the group’s phone hotline remains in service and one-on-one counseling sessions are available.
And participation in online meetings, many that use Zoom video chatting, have increased.
“Alcoholics Anonymous is open for business,” Jane said. “Not in our usual location, maybe, but there are people in the community that are available to help whenever anybody reaches out.”
Jason Whitney, a coordinator for collegiate recovery services at Penn State University, said his program has suspended all in-person meetings and replaced them with group video chats Monday through Friday. PSU employees, staff members and alums dealing with substance abuse attend virtually.
So far, Whitney said, the transition has gone smoothly. Online meetings through Zoom are well-attended and participants battling drug, alcohol or other addiction issues have been as honest and compassionate as they are in person.
“What works for substance abuse recovery is peer support, and in a lot of ways, social distancing disrupts that,” Whitney said, “but it’s been encouraging to see how people are responding in these [online] meetings.”
At La Salle, Shirley has also had success engaging in one-on-one video-chatting sessions with students in need of counseling. And Whitney has noticed virtual meetings can be more available to the whole Penn State community, including alumni who moved away from State College or parents who typically struggle to find time to attend an in-person gathering.
Still, the shift to remote meetings presents other obstacles.
Jane said nothing is as effective for an alcoholic as a face-to-face conversation, and Whitney said some participants can get distracted or try to multitask during virtual meetings.
“Some people are walking their dog on the call or they’re doing work,” Whitney said. “The great thing about support meetings in general is that people are usually very present. So it’s important in these virtual meetings for everyone to try to be present.”
In-person recovery facilities are also adapting to coronavirus-related challenges.
The Daystar Center for Spiritual Recovery in Harrisburg, a residential facility for those recovering from substance abuse disorders, has put several guidelines in place for its patients, executive director Fern Wilcox said. Visitors are now prohibited from entering the facility and patients cannot travel to see family due to the coronavirus, according to Wilcox.
The Daystar Center has also reduced the size of group meetings so participants can sit several seats apart, Wilcox said. And Wilcox started asking patients to watch the news at least twice a day to ensure they understood the serious nature of the pandemic.
Mostly, though, the Daystar Center is dealing with familiar, everyday concerns as the virus spreads.
“We have hand sanitizer out for everyone and we ask our guys to use it,” Wilcox said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do when we run out of hand sanitizer.”
Like other groups in the area, Daystar Center does not intend to shut down during the coronavirus outbreak, because issues related to addiction won’t grind to a halt the way other aspects of life might. Wilcox said she’ll continue communicating with her patients and staff and adjusting as coronavirus causes more alterations to the program.
“A part of the 12 steps recovery process is about taking life one day at time,” Wilcox said. “I talk to our guys about that, and I think it’s important we just go moment by moment through this — and that’s for all of us.”