Thank you for participating in the Addiction Policy Forum’s Anti-Stigma Initiative! This new initiative is designed to: reduce addiction stigma, increase knowledge about addiction, improve helping behaviors towards individuals with a substance use disorder, and identify levels of addiction stigma in a community to establish a baseline indicator.
As part of the Anti-Stigma Initiative, sites will deploy a stigma survey to measure addiction knowledge, confidence in how to respond to a substance use disorder, and levels of stigma in their communities. The purpose of the stigma survey is to identify levels of addiction stigma in communities to establish a baseline indicator and, ultimately, determine targeted interventions.
Using This Toolkit
This toolkit is designed to give participating sites the tools and resources to effectively communicate and deploy the stigma survey successfully. We encourage you to download the customized materials and share the information with your networks to help spread awareness of the initiative. If you have challenges accessing the materials or have other questions about toolkit materials or the initiative, email info@addictionpolicy.org.
This partner toolkit includes sample language, materials, and graphics to share with your networks.
Survey Materials
Key Messages
About the Anti-Stigma Initiative
The goals are Addiction Policy Forum’s Anti-Stigma Initiative are to:
Reduce addiction stigma, including stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination intent.
Increase knowledge about addiction in their communities.
Improve helping behaviors towards individuals with a substance use disorder.
Identify levels of addiction stigma in a community to establish a baseline indicator.
About the Stigma Survey
Addiction Policy Forum and researchers at the University of Delaware developed a survey that measures substance use disorder stigma, addiction literacy/knowledge, and support of policies and local services.
The goal of the stigma survey initiative is to provide a better understanding of the social process of stigma and a baseline level of stigma in our community.
Results will help identify differences in stigma, addiction knowledge, and endorsement of various policies and responses across demographics, geographic areas, and professional occupations.
A greater understanding of the attitudes and knowledge people have of addiction will help communities identify where addiction literacy and targeted interventions need to be implemented.
Feedback will provide needed insights for reducing stigma and social barriers to care, which will enable more people to reach out for help and connect to resources.
About Stigma
Addiction is one of the most stigmatized health conditions on earth.
Individuals with substance use disorder are subject to very harsh moral judgments and frequent discrimination, which prevents people who are struggling from reaching out for help and isolates families affected by the disease who fear being judged by their communities.
Stigma reinforces discriminatory policies and practices and further isolates and deters those struggling from seeking help.
Decreasing stigma involves increasing addiction literacy levels to counteract education gaps and misconceptions about substance use disorders.
Despite the prevalence of addiction stigma, limited research has been conducted at the community level on the effects of stigma on individuals with substance use disorders.
Sample Email
Sample #1 – Outreach to Networks
Subject Line: Take a short survey on the impact of addiction
Hello _____,
[Organization name] and Addiction Policy Forum invite you to take a short survey to share your feedback on substance use disorder and addiction within your community. The purpose of this survey is to help us gain a better understanding of knowledge and attitudes toward addiction, as well as to help our community identify challenges, barriers, and gaps in these areas. This will take about 10-15 minutes to complete, depending on your answers.
Important things you should know are:
This online survey is completely anonymous; no identifying information will be collected, and all information we gather from the survey will be confidential.
The survey is voluntary; you can choose whether or not to take it, and you can stop taking the survey at any time.
[Survey Link]
Thank you in advance for your support of this important initiative!
Sample #2 – Outreach to Networks
Subject Line: Take a short survey on the impact of addiction
Hello _____,
To address the substance use disorder and addiction crisis, the [Organization name] is interested in learning about knowledge and attitudes toward addiction and support for public health responses to addiction to help identify needed interventions to improve community responses.
We have launched a survey to learn more and need your help! This anonymous survey takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.
[Survey Link]
Thank you in advance for your support of this important initiative!
Sample #3 – Outreach to Networks
Subject Line: Provide Feedback on the Impact of Addiction in Your Community
Hello _____,
The disease of addiction continues to devastate families, businesses, and communities across our state. I am reaching out to you today to ask for you to provide critical feedback on substance use disorders and addiction. The purpose of this survey is to help us better understand knowledge and attitudes toward addiction and help our community identify challenges, barriers, and gaps in these areas.
The survey takes 10-15 minutes to complete and responses are anonymous.
[Survey Link]
Thank you for taking the time to participate in this important project!
Sample #4 – Outreach to Stakeholder Groups
Subject Line: Help Us End the Addiction Crisis by Taking a Survey on Addiction Attitudes
Hello _____,
The disease of addiction continues to devastate families, businesses, and communities across our state. I am reaching out to you today to ask for your help in making massive strides in curbing this crisis and understanding perceptions about addiction that prevent people from reaching out for help and accessing vital resources.
[I / organization name] [have/has] partnered with the Addiction Policy Forum, a nationally recognized non-profit, to deploy a survey to understand the perceptions and attitudes people hold toward individuals who struggle with the disease of addiction. [I/We] are seeking input from you and your employees to help us better understand addiction knowledge, support for public health responses to addiction, and perceptions in our community. In doing so, results will help formulate strategies for how we can better educate, collaborate, and advocate with employers and businesses across our community and state.
All responses will be anonymous, and no identifiable information will be shared. If you are willing to participate, please share the invitation and survey link below with your employees, co-workers, and network.
Thank you for considering this opportunity to contribute to the greater understanding of addiction knowledge in our state and for helping us lay the groundwork for solutions. With your support, we are confident we will be able to meet the challenges of addiction head-on and foster supportive cultures for recovery across our community.
Invitation
[I / organization name] and the Addiction Policy Forum are conducting a survey to better understand the impact of substance use disorder and addiction within your community. The purpose is to gain a better understanding of knowledge and attitudes toward addiction, as well as to help our community identify challenges, barriers, and gaps in these areas. This will take about 10-15 minutes to complete, depending on your answers.
Important things you should know are:
This online survey is completely anonymous; no identifying information will be collected, and all information we gather from the survey will be confidential.
The survey is voluntary; you can choose whether or not to take it, and you can stop taking the survey at any time.
[Survey Link]
Thank you in advance for your support of this important initiative!
Sample #5 – Outreach/Pitch to Media
[I / organization name] [am/is] inviting the members of [our community/community name] to share their perspectives on the disease of addiction. Addiction is one of the most stigmatized health conditions on earth and is viewed as a more critically severe mental illness. Individuals with substance use disorder are subject to very harsh moral judgments and frequent discrimination, which prevents people who are struggling from reaching out for help and isolates families affected by the disease who fear being judged by their communities.
[I/we/organization name] [have/has] teamed up with the Addiction Policy Forum, a national non-profit, to launch an in-depth study analyzing the attitudes and perspectives the general public holds toward people who use drugs, have a substance use disorder, or are in recovery from addiction. Information gathered from this study will be utilized to help drive solutions in our community around education, collaboration, and advocacy efforts.
All responses will be anonymous, and confidential, and no identifiable information will be shared. To use your voice and share your thoughts on the current state of addiction in our community, visit [add blog post url] to learn more.
Sample Blog Post
Title: Participate in a study to advance responses to addiction
[Organization name] has partnered with the Addiction Policy Forum on a new project to measure addiction knowledge, confidence in responding to a substance use disorder, and support for public health responses. To gather a greater understanding of these perspectives, [Organization name] is working on a community survey and testing a new intervention to increase capacity to respond to addiction.
Addiction is one of the most stigmatized health conditions on earth. Individuals with substance use disorder are subject to very harsh moral judgments and frequent discrimination. These negative attitudes and behaviors, also known as stigma, prevent people who are struggling from reaching out for help and isolate families affected by the disease who fear being judged by their communities.
As part of this project, we are looking for individuals to take a survey to share their feedback about substance use disorders and the impact addiction has had on the community. The survey is anonymous and takes 10-15 minutes to complete.
[Survey Link]
Sample Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: [DATE]
MEDIA CONTACT: [MEDIA CONTACT NAME + EMAIL / CELL]
[Organization Name] and Addiction Policy Forum Launch Anti-Stigma Initiative to Improve Community Responses to Addiction
[CITY, State]—Today [Organization Name] has partnered with Addiction Policy Forum to launch a community survey, as part of a nationwide Anti-Stigma Initiative, to gather a better understanding of the attitudes and knowledge people have of addiction and to help communities identify where addiction literacy and targeted interventions need to be implemented.
Addiction is one of the most stigmatized health conditions on earth. Individuals with substance use disorder are subject to very harsh moral judgments and frequent discrimination. These negative attitudes and behaviors, also known as stigma, prevent people who are struggling from reaching out for help and isolate families affected by the disease who fear being judged by their communities.
“[Include Quote From Spokesperson]”, says [Spokesperson name].
The survey will help measure addiction knowledge, support for public health responses to addiction, and perceptions around addiction in the community. In doing so, results can help inform strategies to better educate, collaborate, and advocate needed resources and strategies to curb the addiction crisis across the community and state.
The survey is open to the general public and all responses will be anonymous. To learn more, visit [add blog post url].
About [Organization Name]
[Add brief description]
Social Media Posts
Social Media Posts
Help us end the addiction crisis in our communities! We need the help of the public to share their attitudes and knowledge of addiction. This quick, 10-minute survey will help us identify the challenges and opportunities to improve our responses to addiction. [Survey Link]
Share Your Opinion! Addiction impacts every family, business, and community across our community. We want to hear from you about your perceptions about addiction and its impact on the community. Your feedback will help us to find solutions that can help those who are struggling. [Survey Link]
Your input on the impact of addiction can help us address this problem. Participate in a 10-minute survey to help our community better understand attitudes toward addiction and help our community identify needed responses. [Survey Link]
Participate in a 10-minute survey to let us know your perspectives about addiction and the impact it is having in your community. [Survey Link]
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