INDIANAPOLIS – Stigma can be one of the primary barriers to overcoming substance use disorder, preventing people from seeking the treatment and support needed to overcome the disease.
To address this issue, Indiana University’s Responding to the Addictions Crisis Grand Challenge is teaming up with the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites to host a panel discussion on ways community members can come together to shift the conversation around substance use.
“Indiana has made tremendous strides in tackling the opioid crisis, which has impacted millions of Hoosiers throughout the state,” said Robin Newhouse, dean of the School of Nursing, distinguished professor and lead investigator of the Grand Challenge. “However, stigma and misunderstanding around substance use disorder continues to negatively impact people that use substances and their loved ones. We hope conversations like the upcoming panel discussion will help people learn more about this important topic."
“Overcoming Stigma: What can we do to help put an end to discrimination against people with substance use disorder?” takes place from 1 to 2 p.m. on Feb. 1 at the Indiana State Museum. The free event coincides with opening day of the museum’s exhibit, FIX: Heartbreak and Hope Inside Our Opioid Crisis, and will be followed by a naloxone training, provided by the nonprofit organization Overdose Lifeline.
Fred Cate, vice president for research at IU, will moderate the discussion.
Panelists will include:
The panel discussion and naloxone training is just one way IU is partnering with the Indiana State Museum on FIX: Heartbreak and Hope Inside Our Opioid Crisis, which opens Feb. 1 and runs through Feb. 7, 2021. Numerous IU schools and departments have contributed to the overall exhibition aimed at reducing the stigma surrounding opioid use disorder.
Responding to the Addictions Crisis
The Responding to the Addictions Crisis Grand Challenge initiative engages a broad array of IU's world-class faculty, as well as IU's business, nonprofit and government partners. Working together, the groups are contributing to an initiative to implement a comprehensive plan to reduce deaths from addiction, ease the burden of drug addiction on Hoosier communities and improve health and economic outcomes. This initiative is one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive state-based responses to the opioid addiction crisis -- and the largest led by a university.
