Opioid Use Disorder Stigma Reduction Through Story Telling Narrative and Sharing: a Qualitative Review and Lessons Learned

Abstract

Stigma towards substance use continues to exacerbate the opioid crisis and its detrimental effects, claiming tens of thousands of lives each year. Reducing substance use stigma through evidence-based techniques is crucial to overcoming and eliminating stigma's imposed barriers. This study, conducted in the USA, employed semi-structured interview transcripts of 32 adults with lived experience of opioid use disorder (OUD), professionals, and family members were analyzed using an inductive thematic approach to identify overarching themes for OUD stigma reduction strategies. Utilizing this lived-experience framework revealed methods to address stigma through interpersonal communication and social interactions. Specifically, using less stigmatizing language, addressing perceptions of persons who experience OUD, employing open communication about OUD to change narratives and beliefs through incorporating messages of hope and recovery, and replacing stigma with empathy and compassion to support recovery. Utilizing individuals with lived experience of OUD offered first-hand insight to identify potential solutions, advance existing literature, and ultimately combat the opioid crisis.

Shaping and shifting schemas on supervised injectable opioid treatment: findings from a cross-sectional qualitative study in two German treatment facilities

“…Our findings on peer-to-peer transmissions of experiential knowledge and the suggestions made by participants have several practical implications. It would be wise to enhance peer-to-peer support and the organized sharing of experiential knowledge in clinical care for OUD [ 76 ]. While evidence on peer support is limited and shows only modest impacts [ 77 ], this might be due to barriers towards the meaningful implementation of experiential knowledge in healthcare services [ 78 – 80 ].…”

Leveraging neuroscience education to address stigma related to opioid use disorder (OUD) in the community: A pilot study

“…Additionally, the exact psychological mechanisms that underlie the observed decrease in OUD stigma are unclear. Others factors that may contribute include the impact of increased social support and connection with other participants with similar backgrounds (Heilig et al, 2016; Judd et al, 2023), the above-mentioned hopeful and recovery-oriented message, and the use of personal stories from those with lived experience, which have been separately shown to decrease stigma (Kissell et al, 2022).…”

Empowering Women in Methadone Maintenance Therapy

“…Encouraging women to share their stories and experiences can also help reduce stigma and promote understanding and empathy. 13…”

“…Health professionals can help address the stigma surrounding addiction by educating the public about the nature of addiction and the effectiveness of MMT. Encouraging women to share their stories and experiences can also help reduce stigma and promote understanding and empathy 13…”