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Opioid Stigma Reduction Program Evaluations

We partnered with the Community Addictions Peer Support Association, St. Lawrence College, and Fraser Health Authority to evaluate the effectiveness of four such substance-use related stigma reduction programs using the OM-PATOS. Read the findings in the summary evaluation report or read the individual reports below. 

  • How a Shared Humanity Model Can Improve Provider Well-Being And Client Care: An Evaluation of Fraser Health’s Trauma and Resiliency Informed Practice (TRIP) Training Program
    An article that shares the results from our evaluation of TRIP, which was delivered to mental health and substance use staff across the Fraser Health region. This program aims to address the important connection between compassion satisfaction, burnout, and the negative attitudes and behaviours of direct service providers toward people who use opioids and other substances. Findings suggest that embedding resiliency and self-compassion within trauma-informed training programs can be effective at reducing stigma related to opioid use among health-care providers.

  • Understanding Stigma: Evaluation Results on Opioid-Related Stigma
    Results from our evaluation of the Understanding Stigma course using the Opening Minds Provider Attitudes Toward Opioid Use Scale (OM-PATOS). While originally created to reduce mental health-related stigma among health-care providers, our evaluation suggests that the course can also be effective for this group with opioid-related stigma.

  • An Evaluation of the Stigma Ends With Me program
    Results from our evaluation of the Stigma Ends With Me workshop using the Opening Minds Provider Attitudes Toward Opioid Use Scale (OM-PATOS). Using social contact as a key tool, the workshop examines topics such as person-first language, wellness as a paradigm for recovery, and education on the neuroscience of addiction. Though not specifically directed to opioid-related stigma, it was effective at reducing such stigma in addition to substance use stigma more broadly.

  • Measuring impacts of Curricular Content and Personal Story on Substance Use Stigma
    An open-access article in the Journal of Nursing Education that uses our OM-PATOS to evaluate how interventions focused on personal stories impact nursing students’ attitudes toward people with opioid use problems. The study also measured attitudinal changes from students’ regular mental health and addictions curriculum. Its findings suggest that integrating personal story interventions is an important educational approach for improving such attitudes.

  • An Evaluation of the Reducing Stigma and Promoting Recovery for Opioid Use e-learning course
    A report describing our evaluation of the Reducing Stigma and Promoting Recovery of Opioid Use course using the OM-PATOS. The results suggest that this online training is a promising stigma reduction tool for health-care and other direct service providers who provide services to people who use opioids. The course was developed by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), in collaboration with the MHCC, and is delivered through its PSSP knowledge exchange portal).