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PHO Webinar: Exploring Approaches and Practices to Reduce Substance Use-Related Stigma

Addressing stigma is a key element in improving the experiences, quality of care, and outcomes of people who use drugs (PWUD), and has been identified as a priority area in a number of consultations in the Community Opioid/Overdose Capacity Building (COM-CAP) project at Public Health Ontario. Stigma manifests in complex and varied dynamics that include discrimination, prejudice, judgment and stereotypes that harm and isolate people who use drugs.

This session aims to bring together a panel of speakers to highlight approaches and practices that their organizations and communities have used to reduce stigma for people who use drugs. Discussions in this webinar aim to highlight the implicit and explicit ways that stigma can operate in relation to substance use, as well as explore different initiatives used to reduce stigma and its impacts.

Intended audience: Lead organizations and partners of COM-CAP-supported community initiatives, including: Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (with North End Harm Reduction Network, Rexdale Community Health Centre); Chatham Kent Public Health (with ROCK Missions, United Way); NorWest Community Health Centres (with Dilico Anishnabek Family Care, Elevate NWO, Superior Health EMS, Thunder Bay District Health Unit); the Ontario Network of People who Use Drugs (ONPUD), the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario (DSNO) and the COMOH Drug/Opioid Poisoning Crisis Working Group

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify strategies and resources that have been used to reduce stigma for people who use drugs, including engagement with PWUD
• Learn ways for integrating anti-stigma approaches and practices in community and organizational services
• Understand the evidence for the effectiveness of anti-stigma initiatives
• Acknowledge the intersections of race, sexual orientation, and gender identity that either the substance stigma originates from and/or compounds the substance stigma

Présentateur(s): Nat Kaminski, Orville Burke, Scott Neufeld, Kelsey MacIntosh

Nat Kaminski is from the Region of Peel, where they’ve worked in harm reduction since 2013. They founded the Peel Drug Users Network and co-founded the Ontario Network of People Who Use Drugs. They’re a non-binary queer mom of one who has lived experience of poverty, survival sex work and incarceration. Nat is a white settler on Turtle Island and remains committed in their various roles to dismantle the patriarchal, stigmatizing and oppressive systems that uphold harmful policies.

Orville Burke has a passion for serving the African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) community and is the Gay, Bisexual and other Men who have Sex with Men (gbMSM) Engagement and Harm Reduction Coordinator at Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP). His undetectable HIV-positive status, history of substance use and depression fuels his concrete steps to fight stigma around these and other issues. Orville is also interested in harm reduction advocacy, grant proposal writing, and designing harm reduction programs and services for ACB folks.

Scott Neufeld, MA, is a Lecturer in Community Psychology at Brock University on the ancestral territories of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and Chonnonton peoples in the Niagara region under the terms of the Dish-With-One-Spoon Wampum Agreement. He relocated with his family to St. Catharines, ON from Vancouver, BC in 2021. His research and teaching focus on ethical and respectful engagement of people with lived and living experience and critical perspectives on addressing substance use stigma.

Kelsey MacIntosh, MPH, is a Senior Project Officer for Knowledge Translation and Partnerships with the Canadian Public Health Association’s Normalizing Conversations project, which aims to build capacity for implementing a public health approach to substance use. She holds a Master of Public Health degree and Bachelor of Science degree from Queen’s University.

Avis de non-responsabilité

The opinions expressed by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies or views of Public Health Ontario, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by Public Health Ontario.

Accessibilité

Public Health Ontario is committed to complying with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). If you require accommodations to participate in this event, please contact 647-260-7100 or events@oahpp.ca.