WARNING: This story contains mentions of drug addiction and abuse of vulnerable peoples. Those in need of support can call the Ottawa Distress Centre Crisis Line at 613-238-3311 or Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000 to speak directly with a nurse.
A team of researchers and clinicians recently released a video that aims to address and eliminate the stigma within care given to people living with opioid use disorder.
Beyond Stigma is a short animated film created by Subject Matter Research Lab demonstrating the dangers caused by stigma in healthcare. According to the project lead Dr. Abhimanyu Sud, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, the video is part of a larger education project targeted at healthcare workers.
“When I started to practice in medicine, there were rising rates of opioid-related harms, like overdose and death,” Sud said. “In many ways, I felt responsible because some of those deaths were being driven by the practices of prescribers. So I feel a responsibility to try and do something to improve how we provide care.”
According to the Government of Canada, the country saw 24,626 deaths caused by opioid toxicity between January 2016 and June 2021.
The film’s protagonist is in treatment for opioid use disorder when they break their arm. The character is funnelled through a visibly dysfunctional health care system and stigmatized for past addictions. After receiving improper care for their injury, the character is left defeated and unable to cope, leading to a relapse.
The film’s multi-disciplinary development team included nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physicians and people with lived experience. The story, although fictional, was created using the accounts of people with opioid use disorder.
Sean LeBlanc, the founder of Ottawa’s Drug Users Advocacy League and a survivor of opiate addiction, worked alongside the development team as a research assistant.
“[Addiction] can happen to anybody. I grew up on military bases across the country. I didn’t use drugs until I was 17 years old,” LeBlanc said. “I never ever thought I would stick a needle in my arm.”
LeBlanc says strangers have called him “junkie scum.” He says he’s been told to put “cyanide” in syringes. He says his friends have been attacked and that he’s witnessed the destruction of legal, safe injection sites.
“Stigma can be so dangerous,” LeBlanc said.
“I’ve had both sides,” LeBlanc added. “Nurses looking at my track marks in horror but also a doctor that never ever gave up on me. It’s extremely important that these professionals realize that everybody deserves a second chance. You’re supposed to be there to help everybody.”
Dr. Kirsten Dixon, a family physician at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and a project contributor, said addiction is complicated. Moreover, she said old beliefs, such as addiction being a character flaw, still exist in society.
“What we’re coming to understand is that both brain pathways and chemistry, in addition to a whole set of social circumstances, tend to play a role,” Dixon said. “It’s a much more complicated thing than somebody just choosing whether or not to take drugs.”
Sud said the team would continue to work on this initiative that he describes as an “education intervention” for health-care workers by analyzing prescription patterns, regulations and policies that surround medication.
LeBlanc said it’s essential to recognize that something has gone wrong with the current health-care system.
“No one grows up wanting to be a drug addict; life happens. And I think we deserve the same health care as anybody else,” LeBlanc said.
Featured image provided by Subject Matter Research Lab.
