Document Type

Article

Author ORCID Identifier

Sandra H. Sulzer https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4879-5407

Tyson Barrett https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2137-1391

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy

Volume

29

Issue

5

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Publication Date

7-8-2021

First Page

576

Last Page

586

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Abstract

Aims: A novel professional training was developed to reduce stigma toward harm reduction and pharmacotherapy for substance use disorders.

Methods: The training was delivered over three sessions to n = 147 health professionals in Utah between 2019 and 2020, including n = 40 substance use disorder treatment professionals. Pre and post-training survey measures provided evaluation information on knowledge, attitudes, and planned action regarding harm reduction and pharmacotherapy. Items were grouped into a stigma score, and multilevel modeling, regression analyses, and McNemar tests were used to quantify changes in overall stigma toward harm reduction interventions both before and after the training.

Results: The training significantly decreased the total stigma score toward harm reduction (b = -0.09, p < .001, β = -0.34). At the individual item level, 6 of the 22 items showed significant change in reduced stigma (all p < .047), and all items moved in the direction of decreased stigma. These items include both attitudes and planned action aspects of the total stigma score.

Conclusions: This study suggests that education targeting prejudice and discriminatory actions against harm reduction and pharmacotherapy interventions among healthcare professionals may contribute to stigma reduction. These results provide a basis for intervention effectiveness, addressing preconceived ideas, and show community need for such substance use interventions, as a component of future stigma reduction efforts.

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