Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a global public health crisis. It is estimated that 62 million people use opioids and about 36.3 million suffer with substance use disorder (World Health Organization, 2021). Stigma attached to OUD creates barriers to healthcare for patients and their families, especially when healthcare providers have stigmatizing attitudes. When stigma is experienced or even anticipated, patients experience social exclusion and disengage from treatment leading to poorer health outcomes (Tsai et al., 2019). Stigma is made worst by the constant negative media depiction of OUD and research suggests community compassion fatigue is present (Winstanley, 2020). Public stigma translates into less support for policies to address the opioid crisis (Kennedy-Hendricks et al., 2017; Tsai et al., 2019).
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth No Stigma Nursing Research Team
From left: Mirinda Tyo, Monika Schuler, Shannon Avery-Desmarais (slightly in front), Jennifer Viveiros, Mary McCurry
The research team was awarded $591,485.00 from the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE). FORE is a national, private, grantmaking foundation focused solely on inspiring and accelerating action to end the nation’s opioid epidemic. The goal of the research is to develop educational resources and implement simulation-based interventions for nursing students in baccalaureate, masters, and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs to reduce addiction-related stigma, and enhance empathy when caring for and treating patients with OUD and their families.
TEAM MEMBERS
The team has extensive leadership experience, research training, nurse educator expertise, clinical experience, and simulation training.
Professor Dr. McCurry is a board-certified adult and acute care nurse practitioner. She has held numerous leadership positions in the college and has training and expertise in nursing education, multivariate statistics, advanced practice nursing and OUD treatment. She is a member of the International Family Nursing Association.
Assistant Professor Dr. Schuler is a board-certified family nurse practitioner and nurse educator. She has experience teaching with simulation and research with undergraduate and graduate education. She has a program of research that focuses on understanding stigma and nursing in patients with OUD. She is actively practicing as a nurse practitioner working with patients with OUD.
Assistant Professor Dr. Viveiros has extensive experience teaching with high-fidelity simulations. She has expertise in simulation design, the capabilities of our simulation center, and experience with simulation measurement tools/resources. She has worked with multi-disciplinary simulation research teams to promote safety in the healthcare setting.
Assistant Professor Dr. Tyo is a board-certified trauma nurse and an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. She has over 15 years of clinical expertise working in the emergency department caring for patients with OUD and SUD. Dr. Tyo is a member of the International Family Nursing Association. Her program of research focuses on family members impacted by SUD, and she has published several research articles on the experiences of family members including caregiver burden and resilience. She also has seven years of combined experience teaching with simulation in her current faculty role and as a clinical educator in the emergency department.
Assistant Professor Dr. Avery-Desmarais is a board-certified adult-gerontology nurse practitioner who is an Assistant Professor and Program Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Her research focuses on the impact of minority stress on the well-being of nurses, and she has published multiple articles on substance use. She is actively practicing in primary care where she frequently cares for patients with substance use disorder.
References:
Kennedy-Hendricks, A., Barry, C. L., Gollust, S. E., Ensminger, M. E., Chisolm, M. S., & McGinty, E. E. (2017). Social stigma toward persons with prescription opioid use disorder: Associations with public support for punitive and public health-oriented policies. Psychiatric Services, 68.5, 462-469. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201600056
Tsai, A. C., Kiang, M. V., Barnett, M. L., Beletsky, L., Keyes, K. M., McGinty, E. E., Smith, L. R., Strathdee, S. A., Wakeman, S. E., & Venkataramani, A. S. (2019). Stigma as a fundamental hindrance to the United States opioid overdose crisis response. PLoS medicine, 16(11), e1002969. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002969
Winstanley, E. L. (2020). The Bell Tolls for Thee & Thine: Compassion Fatigue & the Overdose Epidemic. The International Journal of Drug Policy, 85, 102796. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102796
World Health Organization. (2021). Opioid overdose. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/opioid-overdose#:~:text=Worldwide%2C%20about%20275%20million%20people,drug%20use%20disorders%20in%202019.
