UBC create Equity Action Kit to address discrimination associated with substance use

Widespread stigma and discrimination associated with substance use can cause people to be treated in disrespectful or discriminatory ways in healthcare settings. This motivated the UBC Faculty of Applied Science and Western University to create tools and strategies to ensure people who experience substance use stigma can receive better care in the future. The EQUIP Equity Action Kit includes:

• Organizational planning tools and report cards for organizations to assess themselves with respect to substance use health, as well as actions to address stigma and to reduce racism toward Indigenous people and other people who are targets of discrimination;
• Videos and tools that highlight the effects of substance use stigma and how to put strategies in place to address it, including how to identify barriers to care and how to change stigmatizing language; and
• E-learning modules on what equity-oriented healthcare means and how healthcare professionals can provide services in a trauma- and violence-informed, culturally safe way.