Assessment of Substance Use Disorder Stigma and Strategies for Addressing Stigma in Rural Areas

Our speakers are Valerie Harder, PhD, MHS, Associate Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Director of CORA’s Surveillance and Evaluation Core at the University of Vermont, and Peter Jackson, MD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Director of the University of Vermont Medical Center Addiction Treatment Center. There are also guest speakers, Dr. Madison Ashworth and Dr. Lisham Ashrafioun, from other Rural Centers of Excellence. This presentation shares results from the National Report on Rural Substance Use Disorder Stigma and Treatment Needs and discuss strategies for addressing stigma in rural areas.

Learning objectives

1. Identify stigmatizing beliefs about opioid use disorder and medications for opioid use disorder

2. List preferred and non-preferred terms used by rural practitioners to describe people with substance use disorders

3. Name the top three rural provider-identified barriers to treating patients with opioid use disorder nationally

4. Describe strategies to address stigmatizing beliefs and behaviors in rural communities

Speakers

Valerie Harder, PhD, MHS,

Dr. Harder is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Director of CORA’s Surveillance and Evaluation Core at the University of Vermont. She is also the Director of the Health Services Research Team at the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program (VCHIP), focusing her research on measuring the impact of public health interventions to improve physical and mental health outcomes of youth and young adults statewide. Her research team leverages large administrative health data sources to assess the impact of quality improvement efforts, targeted interventions, and statewide policies. In addition, she leads evaluations assessing improvement projects around health systems in primary and specialty care.

Peter Jackson, MD

Dr. Jackson is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Director of the University of Vermont Medical Center Addiction Treatment Center where he specializes in both child and adolescent psychiatry and addiction psychiatry. In both the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry he currently serves on committees responsible for preventing and treating substance use disorders in teens. His writing and teaching have included additional emphasis on the role of parents and family members in the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders.