Stigma in Healthcare Settings

Maryland Department of Health: Words Matter
The Maryland Department of Health emphasizes using understanding and respectful language around substance use disorders to reduce stigma. It provides alternatives to common stigmatizing terms, promoting person-first language and highlighting the impact of word choice on perceptions.

Addressing Stigma
Maryland's Office of Overdose Response has created a public awareness toolkit to help dispel negative attitudes toward people who use substances or have mental health conditions.

"Don't Label Us" Campaign 
Queen Anne’s County Health Department has developed an award-winning education and stigma-reducing campaign about recovery from substance use disorder.

How to talk with your patients about substance use disorders 
Talking with patients about potential substance misuse can be challenging. This overview from the American Medical Association demonstrates how one physician approaches this conversation during his addiction consultations with patients while avoiding stigma in the process.

"Overcoming Addiction, Ending Stigma" Resource Guide
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has developed a list of resources about the language of substance use disorder recovery and treatment.

Addiction and Substance Use Disorders: Tips for Communicating without Stigma
A social media strategist at the National Institute on Drug Abuse shares the strategies her organization employs when it comes to avoiding stigmatizing language.

Words Matter - Terms to Use and Avoid When Talking About Addiction 
NIDA has created a page of tips for providers to keep in mind when using person-first language. It also contains terms to avoid in order to reduce stigma and negative bias when discussing addiction.

First Responder Substance Use Stigma Measures Toolkit
The First Responder Substance Use Stigma Measures Toolkit, developed by the National Association of County and City Health Officials in collaboration with Dr. Lawrence Yang, aims to assess and address stigma towards individuals with opioid use disorders among first responders.

Stigma: Beyond the Numbers
Get tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to talk about substance use disorders and learn about other direct actions you can take to reduce stigma to support recovery.

Remove Stigma: Talk With Your Patients About SUD
This sheet from the CDC provides techniques for talking with patients and their families about substance use disorder.

Changing the Narrative
Changing The Narrative is a network of reporters, researchers, academics, and advocates concerned about the way the media represents drug use and addiction. Its mission is to help journalists and opinion leaders provide accurate, humane, and scientifically-grounded information in this contested terrain. It offers expert sources – including people with lived experience of the issues – and up-to-date, fact-checked, and evidence-based information on news and controversies.

NIDAMED: Clinical Resources
The webpage provides science-based resources for health professionals and those in training about screening, addressing and treating addiction. It offers resources on vaping, marijuana, other drugs, the opioid crisis, safe opioid prescribing and overdose prevention. It also includes information on opioid overdose practice guides, screening tools to identify substance use, and free CME activities on combatting stigma and opioid use.

Addiction Medicine Toolkit
This Addiction Medicine Toolkit from the CDC helps clinicians understand and treat substance use disorders. It includes training on communication, patient cases and American Society of Addiction Medicine resources. A significant part of the toolkit focuses on addressing stigma by offering guidance on respectful language and empathetic communication to improve patient engagement.

Stigma as a fundamental hindrance to the United States opioid overdose crisis response
This research article examines the role of stigma in responses to the opioid crisis in the United States. It shows how several dimensions of stigma play a role in hindering a response to the crisis.

Different forms of stigma and rural primary care professionals' willingness to prescribe buprenorphine
This qualitative study identified three distinct forms of stigma influencing rural primary care providers' willingness to prescribe buprenorphine: stigma towards patients, stigma towards providers and stigma towards buprenorphine itself. These findings underscore the complex nature of stigma as a barrier to buprenorphine access in rural areas and suggest that implementation strategies must address these different forms of stigma to improve prescribing rates.

Confronting Inadvertent Stigma and Pejorative Language in Addiction Scholarship: A Recognition and Response
This editorial dives into the importance of appropriate use of language in the field of addiction. Inappropriate use of language can negatively impact the way society perceives substance use and the people who are affected by it.

Stigma Against Addiction Medication Limits Our Ability to End the Opioid Epidemic
This article focuses on the negative impact of stigma surrounding the use of medication for opioid use disorder on efforts to end the opioid epidemic. It highlights how stigma, often based on misconceptions, leads to the underutilization of an effective treatment and contributes to preventable overdose deaths.

Past Webinars from MACS and MACS for MOMs

• Words Matter: Decreasing Stigma While Caring For Pregnant People with Substance Use 
  Katrina Mark, MD
  August 31, 2023
  Webinar Slides - August 31, 2023
• Fight Stigma in the Pharmacy: Using the Right Words to Support Patients with Opioid Use Disorder
  Bethany DiPaula, PharmD 
  October 3, 2022
  Webinar Slides - October 3, 2022
• Fight Stigma: Using the Right Words to Support Patients with Opioid Use Disorder 
  Bethany DiPaula, PharmD
  January 25, 2021
  Webinar Slides - January 25, 2021

NIDAMED CME/CE Activities

Words Matter - Terms to Use and Avoid When Talking About Addiction
This CME/CE activity informs clinicians on how language can destigmatize substance use disorders and addiction. It focuses on using person-first language and on terms to avoid to reduce stigma and negative bias when discussing addiction.

Your Words Matter – Language Showing Compassion and Care for Women, Infants, Families, and Communities Impacted by Substance Use Disorder
This CME/CE activity highlights clinicians' role in helping destigmatize substance use disorders and reduce negative bias among pregnant women and mothers. The activity has background information and tips for providers on language to use or avoid.

SAMHSA Webcast Series

The Power of Perceptions & Understanding: Changing How We Deliver Treatment & Recovery Services 
This four-part webcast series from SAMHSA educates healthcare professionals about the importance of using approaches that are free of discriminatory attitudes and behaviors in treating individuals with substance use disorders and related conditions, as well as patients in recovery.

Maryland Harm Reduction Training Institute

Stigma, Trauma, and People Who Use Drugs
In this free, asynchronous, online course, examine the historical roots of drug-related stigma, the role of trauma for people who use drugs and strategies for challenging stigma at multiple levels.