Stigma

The report provides key findings from the study assessing substance use and recovery stigma by healthcare workers, compared to non-healthcare workers. The stigma that is perceived by people who use drugs or are in recovery (PWUD/IR) was found to be a structural concern as a large population are opting out of going to the doctor, leaving them open to a variety of untreated illnesses.

The guide on People First Language can help when using respectful language and referring to people with disabilities, as enacted by the District of Columba on July 11, 2006. “People First Language” (PFL) puts the person before the disability, and describes what a person has, not who a person is. 

OMNI Institute, in partnership with the JBS RCORP-TA team, created the 2022-2023 RCORP-TA Data Learning Collaborative (LC) for grantees to come together and share knowledge, talk through challenges, and build relationships with one another. This LC will build upon the foundation established in the prior 2022 RCORP-TA Data Learning Collaborative.

More people are dying from overdose now than at any point in history. Individuals learned about three innovative communication campaigns that challenge stigma, center people who use drugs, and build support for harm reduction as a lifesaving strategy to reduce overdose deaths.

We began with a critical examination of the history of family separation in the US to lay the groundwork for a discussion of both provider and patient trust and mistrust. The stigma and discrimination that pregnant, postpartum, and parenting people with substance use disorder was explored. We concluded with concrete suggestions to improve provider wellness, child development, and community cohesion.

Stigma and bias among community members, health care providers, and even family members toward individuals with substance use disorder negatively affects the care provided to this population. Stigma prevents individuals from seeking treatment and continues to divide them from their families, their communities, and the evidence-based treatments available.

Opening and Welcome

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration-funded Opioid Response Network (ORN) initiative has launched the Stand Against Stigma (SAS) Challenge. This is an opportunity for those in the healthcare industry to address and dispel stigma related to individuals with substance use disorders through easy, daily activity.

Stigma is a social process linked to power and control which leads to creating stereotypes and assigning labels to those that are considered deviate from the norm or behave “badly” -- stigma creates the social conditions that makes people who use drugs believe they are not deserving of being treated with dignity & respect, perpetuating feelings of fear and isolation. This resource also includes additional stigma documents.

The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine defines stigma as a range of negative attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that are associated with certain conditions such as addiction. Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), has been a leading voice in talking about the “chilling effect” stigma has on our ability to address substance use and addiction in our country. In an April 2020 perspective piece published in the New England Journal of Medicine and in her NIDA blog piece, Dr. Volkow explains how stigma can prevent people from seeking care and can even contribute to their continuing addiction. We encourage our visitors to read Dr. Volkow’s writings as well as to familiarize themselves with the efforts to reduce stigma led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) including the NIH HEAL InitiativeSM, which has made addressing stigma a key element in their efforts to address opioid addiction.