Addressing Stigma at the Individual, Provider, and Community Levels
Our speaker is Dr. Lisham Ashrafioun, PhD, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester, co-PI of the UR Medicine Recovery Center of Excellence, and a Research Investigator at the VA Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention at the VA Finger Lakes Healthcare System. This presentation provides an overview of projects at the Rural Center of Excellence on SUD Prevention at the University of Rochester. These projects aim to address substance use disorder stigma at various levels (i.e., self, provider, community) in rural communities.
Learning objectives:
- Describe various types of stigma
- Discuss evidence-based approaches to address stigmatizing beliefs in rural communities
- Outline specific examples of strategies that are currently being implemented to address stigma in rural communities
- Discuss where to find additional resources on addressing stigma in rural communities
Speaker
Lisham Ashrafioun, PhD
Dr. Lisham Ashrafioun is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center, where he is also the co-PI of the UR Medicine Recovery Center of Excellence. He is also a Research Investigator at the Department of Veterans Affairs Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention at the VA Finger Lakes Healthcare System. He completed his PhD in Clinical Psychology at Bowling Green State University after completing his clinical internship at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. His research focuses primarily on intervention development to address novel therapeutic targets among individuals with substance use disorder as well as chronic pain. His role in the Rural Center of Excellence on SUD Prevention at the University of Rochester is to oversee pilot projects aimed at preventing substance use disorders in rural communities. He is also the project lead of several projects targeting the reduction of stigma of substance use disorders in rural communities.