Michigan Safer Opioid Prescribing Toolkit

Reducing Stigma in the Opioid Epidemic – Provider Resources

This section contains provider resources on how to avoid stigmatizing patients with opioid use disorders.

Stigmatizing opioid use disorder and addiction is dangerous and potentially damaging.

Using Non-Stigmatizing Language

Words Matter Handout

Download this guide to using non-stigmatizing language when discussing OUD and SUD.

Welcoming Language Key to Patient Recovery

Director of NIDA, Dr. Volkow discusses how a physician’s choice of words can make a difference in a patient’s chance of overcoming substance use disorders.

    Michigan Department of Health and Human Services: End the Stigma

    The End the Stigma Campaign from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has resources on how to change the conversation around substance use and substance use disorder.

    Anti-Stigma Toolkits & Guides

    ATTC – Anti-Stigma Toolkit: A Guide to Reducing Addiction-Related Stigma

    A guide to provide the addiction treatment and recovering community with practical information and tools to enhance their capacity to engage in effective stigma reduction efforts.

    Shatterproof – Addiction Stigma Index

    First-of-its-kind research tool confirms stigma, discrimination deepen addiction as a public health crisis.

    I’m Still a Person – Stigma Workbook | Families Against Narcotics

    An interactive workbook created to help give people the knowledge required to address substance use-related stigma within themselves, their families, and their communities.

    Webinars on Stigma and OUD

    SAMHSA: The Power of Perceptions and Understanding: Changing how we deliver treatment and recovery services

    Watch this 4-part webcast on reducing discriminatory practices in clinical settings and earn up to 4.0 free CME/CR credits.

    Decreasing stigma involving addiction begins with the medical profession

    Ayana Jordan, a Providers Clinical Support System Clinical expert, discusses the need for the medical profession to reduce stigma associated with treating patients with opioid use disorder.

    The Role of Shame in Opioid Use Disorders

    Slides from this module provide an overview of how to recognize and treat shame in patients with OUD. It also covers particular subsets of people with OUD who have specific concerns regarding shame, including people who inject heroin, and opioid-addicted pregnant women and mothers. Finally, treatment options that address shame in people with OUD are outlined.

    Follow-up Q and A Webinar: The Role of Shame in Opioid Use Disorders

    Slides from this Q and A webinar further discuss Dr. Braun-Gabelman’s online module, “The Role of Shame in Opioid Use Disorders,” and offers a few case examples related to this topic.

    Stigma and OUD

    Nurse Practitioner Vanessa Loukas, a Providers Clinical Support System Clinical expert, discusses the issue of stigma in treating patients with opioid use disorder—from the patients to the providers who treat them.

    Articles on Opioid-Related Stigma

    The effectiveness of interventions for reducing stigma related to substance use disorders: a systematic review

    This study provides a systematic review of existing research that has empirically evaluated interventions designed to reduce stigma related to substance use disorders.

    Confronting the Stigma of Opioid Use Disorder—and Its Treatment

    This viewpoint addresses four factors contributing to the stigma surrounding opioid use disorder and medication-assisted treatment and discusses ways to counter this stigma.

    AMA: Pain expert: Judge the opioid treatment, not the patient

    This article discusses the process of assessing whether opioids are the appropriate course of treatment for patients, and judging the treatment and not the patient.

    For more information on opioid-related stigma, tailored toward patients and families: