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Chapter 13 - Reducing Substance Use Stigma in Health Care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2022

By
Sven Speerforck  and
Georg Schomerus
Edited by
Georg Schomerus  and
Patrick William Corrigan
Georg Schomerus
Affiliation:
Universität Leipzig
Patrick William Corrigan
Affiliation:
Illinois Institute of Technology
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Summary

Although health care is generally designed to help people, it has the potential to effectively impede recovery for people using substances by obvious and subtle discrimination. Stigmatizing attitudes among health professionals are common, regularly expected by people who use substances and potentially reduce quality of delivered clinical care. The power gradient that drives stigma and discriminatory behavior is particularly palpable in the healthcare setting and prevalent within different clinical situations like emergency medicine, primary care, and the psychiatric ward as within language. Comprising the current evidence of interventions, specific clinical settings and language regarding substance use stigma, we suggest recommendations for changes in clinical practice. Professionals need to avoid inflicting very real harm by increasing shame and reducing self-worth through stigmatizing settings, language, and concepts. Reducing substance use stigma is an integral and profoundly important part of caring for people who use substances and should be considered as such.

Keywords

Addictionhealth carealcoholprofessionalsinterventionlanguage
Type
Chapter
Information
The Stigma of Substance Use Disorders , pp. 232 - 251
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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