Digital Commons Network^™

Substance Use Disorders And Stigma, Shirley S. Patrick

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Stigma is a problem for persons with substance abuse addictions and impacts access to health care services. The purpose of this project was to examine an educational program's effectiveness in reducing stigmatizing attitudes of health care professionals towards persons with substance abuse addictions. An educational program including a PowerPoint on substance abuse and stigma was presented to one group of nursing students and one group of Registered Nurses in a nurse residency program and pre-tests and post-tests completed. Results were calculated utilizing the paired samples ^-test. At the < 0 .05 level for a 2-tailed test only pairs seven, eight, and nine of the pre-test and post-test answers were statistically significant. Recommendations for future practice include educational programs targeting health care professionals. Stigma, social distance and discrimination are major obstacles to persons with addictions in obtaining mental health services.