I’m Still a Person: The Stigma of Substance Use & the Power of Respect by Dr. Audrey Begun (MSW, PH.D.), is an interactive workbook created to help give people the knowledge required to address substance use-related stigma within themselves, their families, and their communities. This book examines the importance of the language we use when talking about substance use disorder and offers activities that will help spark changes in the way people think about the disease. It will also inspire us to be agents of change in environments where individuals and families may experience stigma.
The Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC are dedicated to integrating cultural responsiveness into all our training and technical assistance offerings. We aim to help develop workforce competencies to provide equitable and inclusive care to all. Download this guide to learn more about our growing inventory of evidence-based trainings designed to improve the delivery of culturally-responsive prevention, treatment, and recovery approaches!
The Institute on Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care (ITTIC) was started at the University at Buffalo in 2012 by Research Professor Thomas Nochajski and Clinical Professor Susan Green out of the need for additional trauma-related services, training and support within the University and community at large. Since its inception, ITTIC has provided training and consultation within the systems of child welfare, adult mental health, developmental disabilities, education, criminal justice and the court system.
According to the CDC, there were over 107,000 fatal overdoses in the U.S. in 2021. This figure is staggering. Each number represents a unique life that was lost in the addiction crisis. It also raises an important question: who is being most affected by this epidemic?
According to SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the BIPOC community is most at risk for developing addiction. BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
Stress, trauma, housing discrimination, racism, hate crimes, and systemic pressures drastically increase the risk of developing addiction.
According to several studies, Black individuals in particular are at risk for addiction. Within the last 5 years, there has been a rise in opioid-related overdoses among Black Americans. During this time period, Black people accounted for 43% of all overdoses. This is especially jarring since Black people only make up approximately 12% of the general population.
BIPOC individuals also face barriers when trying to access treatment. These barriers can take the form of familial stigma, cultural stigma, limited healthcare access, systemic discrimination, and regulatory barriers.
Mental Health America’s 2023 BIPOC Mental Health Toolkit provides free, practical resources, including information about how an individual’s environment impacts their mental health, suggestions for making changes to improve and maintain mental well-being, and how to seek help for mental health challenges.
This report provides behavioral health professionals, researchers, policymakers and other audiences with a comprehensive research overview and accurate information about effective and ineffective therapeutic practices related to youth of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity.
Tribal communities often are highly distrustful of research due to experiences with unethical practices, stereotyping, discrimination, stigmatization, failure to share benefits from research with their communities, and lack of respect for culture and beliefs. This pocket guide provides information on tribal sovereignty and appropriate steps prevention specialists and researchers should take when working with tribal communities.
Western-based research unfortunately has some major scandals in its history (the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and, more recently, the ASU-Havasupai DNA scandal), which have deepened Indigenous distrust of outsiders. Western-based research methods also often disregard Indigenous traditions, values, and ways of knowing. For example, the principles of the 1978 Belmont Report on ethical human subject research focus on individuals rather than communities. Likewise, a typical academic Institutional Review Board does not consider interviews with community members to qualify as “human subject research” and therefore may not require informed consent. But many Native communities expect to know exactly what such interviews are intended to reveal, how the information will be used, how it will benefit their community, and how their community will be protected from harm – all elements of informed consent.
In short, conducting research in Indigenous communities is not the same as conducting research anywhere else. This document is intended as a broad guide for researchers and Indigenous communities to help them understand some of the complexities they may encounter and elements they must consider when approaching research with Native populations. It is our hope that this guide will help researchers and the Indigenous communities they work with to avoid common pitfalls, improve their relationships, and strengthen the value of their research efforts.
The PTTC Network’s Building Health Equity & Social Justice Working Group developed this resource for prevention professionals. The overall goal is to incorporate anti-racist, bias-free, and inclusive terminology into the framework of prevention efforts. Diversity and inclusion in the prevention workforce is both ethical and imperative. Preventionists must not only be aware of the knowledge presented throughout this factsheet but be able to practically apply the information given.
In this tool, you can see how you can use each step to inform your practices. Feel free to use this map with stakeholders, a coalition, or community members to explain the process and how you’ll use this tool. At the end of this guide, there is a survey that you can use with your organization, coalition, or group to assess your strengths and areas of growth. The New England PTTC will create a report from your organization-specific data which you can share with your team to assess what areas you may want to focus your work around diversity and inclusion. You may return to this tool when you have determined which areas you want to work on for thoughts on what you might do to improve.
Behavioral health equity is the right to access high-quality and affordable health care services and supports for all populations, including Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.
Welcome to the African American Behavioral Health Center of Excellence Resource Library, a curated collection of articles, manuals, and web-based resources. You can search through this database by topic, by type (articles, manuals, podcasts, etc.), and/or by the search term of your choice. For any combination of search criteria, you can choose to look for materials that fit all or any of your criteria.