Large-scale Interprofessional Education on the Stigma Associated with Substance Use Disorder in Healthcare Providers
Poster Description:
Background: Many learners lack necessary lived or clinical experience necessary to understand the stigma associated with substance use disorder (SUD) and the implications on healthcare. This IPE session aims to address that gap by providing a presentation from a physician struggling with SUD coupled with a dramatic recreation of events in the life of an addicted person (based on the life experiences of the presenter), with small-group facilitator-led discussion and debriefing focused on IPE communication.
Design: The virtual session began with a presentation on SUD, statewide trends, and the associated stigma. This was followed by the keynote presentation of a physician's firsthand experience with SUD. After a brief question/answer period, learners were sent into interprofessional breakout rooms. Groups consisted of approximately ten interprofessional learners and were led by a facilitator. Each group watched a series of videos consisting of dramatic recreations of lived experiences developed by the physician presenter. Facilitators conducted roundtable discussions between each video and a formal debrief at the end of the session. Learners were also sent a survey gauging the impact of the use of appropriate language, ability to interact/collaborate with other professions, and evaluation of the IPE Core Competencies as they applied to the session.
Results: 593 learners from 17 disciplines participated in this session with 60 facilitators. All 17 disciplines participated in the survey. Without fail, all respondents reported improved comfort in using appropriate language when interacting with both providers and patients and improved confidence when interacting with the same. In addition, learners reacted positively when asked if the learning objectives were accomplished and positively responded that all IPE Core Competencies were addressed in the session.
Conclusion: When challenged with the opportunity to provide SUD education to a large number of learners simultaneously, a virtual option with small breakout sessions proved to be effective in educating future health professionals about SUD, the associated stigma, and appropriate communication strategies.
Reflections/Lessons learned/implications: While all learners reported gaining the benefit of the session, several expressed concern that the chosen speaker may not be representative of the larger demographic. Consideration is being given to adding another speaker to the session to better represent the patient population.
Description: This session addressed bias in interprofessional practice and the impact that it has on the healthcare provider, as well as the overall stigma SUD has in the general population. This poster offers a method of bringing awareness to a larger population.
