This colorful consumer- and provider-facing flyer from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services uses “this not that” statements when referencing substance use disorder and explains why some terms are stigmatizing.

This infographic from the National Harm Reduction Coalition illustrates how to avoid stigmatizing and blameful language about people with opioid use disorder (OUD).

This printable poster produced by the American Hospital Association gives providers compassionate alternatives for stigmatizing language used to describe patients with substance use disorders.

The Iowa Healthcare Collaborative hosts a COMPASS opioid stewardship podcast, a six-part mini-series that that shares patients’ personal stories of opioid stigma. Episode one includes an interview with Dr. Kaylin Klie that discusses Stigma and the Importance of Language.

This podcast series hosted by QSource highlights subject matter experts that address opioid misuse and stigma related to opioid use disorder. To access the podcast, click the URL and select the Opioid series. Two episodes most focused on opioid stigma include:

Mountain Pacific Quality Health hosts a webinar about stigmas surrounding opioid use disorder and how you can reduce stigma in your day-to-day relationships.  Goals of this webinar include: 

Chapter 13 of this publication from the American Hospital Association addresses shame and stigma and provides resources for health care providers, guidelines and perspectives, and case studies from hospitals and health systems seeking to reduce the stigma surrounding opioid use disorders.

These free downloadable e-books are appropriate for anyone interested in the topic of stigma related to substance use, including individuals and family members, as well as social work and physical or mental or behavioral health care professionals; people working in criminal justice, court, and child welfare systems; and people involved with recovery support.

Clinicians can use this conversation starter from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which includes examples of how to use language to destigmatize the disease of addiction even when patients use stigmatizing slang. It describes techniques for clinicians to use when talking with patients and family members about substance use disorders.

This rack card from Stigma Free West Virginia outlines the differences between public or societal stigma, personal or self-stigma, courtesy stigma, and structural stigma against people with substance use disorders and other behavioral health issues.