The Strength of a Story: Partnering With a Community Organization to Destigmatize Substance Use Disorder
Introduction Stigmatizing attitudes held by health care professionals against individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) result in worse clinical outcomes. Story-listening has been shown to help mitigate bias for medical trainees. We created a narrative-based small-group facilitated discussion be...
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Association of American Medical Colleges
2025-01-01
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| Series: | MedEdPORTAL |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mededportal.org/doi/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11487 |
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| author | Noah Sorkow Cameron Lauf Stephen H. Berns |
| author_facet | Noah Sorkow Cameron Lauf Stephen H. Berns |
| author_sort | Noah Sorkow |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction Stigmatizing attitudes held by health care professionals against individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) result in worse clinical outcomes. Story-listening has been shown to help mitigate bias for medical trainees. We created a narrative-based small-group facilitated discussion between medical students and an individual in recovery from SUD through a direct partnership with a community peer-recovery organization. Methods All session materials were formulated in direct partnership with the community organization. After completing prework, second-year medical students engaged in a 1.5-hour facilitated discussion with a community member in recovery and one attending physician preceptor. Student perceptions of the session and SUD were evaluated using open-ended and Likert-scale questions through an online survey. Community members engaged in their own postsession debrief. Results One hundred twenty-four second-year medical students, 16 attending physician preceptors, and 10 community members in recovery participated in the session. Students agreed or strongly agreed that they appreciated the session format (92%), that they learned something new about SUD (83%), and that the session was applicable to their future career (92%). Students appreciated the small-group format and hearing someone's lived experience/perspective. Community members expressed how the session helped humanize health care providers and had interest in participating in future sessions. Discussion Working in direct partnership with a local community organization to create an intimate narrative-based educational experience for medical students is feasible, appreciated by medical student participants, and mutually beneficial to community members and can facilitate positive changes in student knowledge and, potentially, bias regarding SUD. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fcd507f00e394255929e73482c7018d5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2374-8265 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Association of American Medical Colleges |
| record_format | Article |
| series | MedEdPORTAL |
| spelling | doaj-art-fcd507f00e394255929e73482c7018d52025-01-24T05:00:05ZengAssociation of American Medical CollegesMedEdPORTAL2374-82652025-01-012110.15766/mep_2374-8265.11487The Strength of a Story: Partnering With a Community Organization to Destigmatize Substance Use DisorderNoah Sorkow0Cameron Lauf1Stephen H. Berns2Fourth-Year Medical Student, Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of VermontExecutive Director, Turning Point Center of Chittenden CountyAssociate Professor, Division of Palliative Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of VermontIntroduction Stigmatizing attitudes held by health care professionals against individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) result in worse clinical outcomes. Story-listening has been shown to help mitigate bias for medical trainees. We created a narrative-based small-group facilitated discussion between medical students and an individual in recovery from SUD through a direct partnership with a community peer-recovery organization. Methods All session materials were formulated in direct partnership with the community organization. After completing prework, second-year medical students engaged in a 1.5-hour facilitated discussion with a community member in recovery and one attending physician preceptor. Student perceptions of the session and SUD were evaluated using open-ended and Likert-scale questions through an online survey. Community members engaged in their own postsession debrief. Results One hundred twenty-four second-year medical students, 16 attending physician preceptors, and 10 community members in recovery participated in the session. Students agreed or strongly agreed that they appreciated the session format (92%), that they learned something new about SUD (83%), and that the session was applicable to their future career (92%). Students appreciated the small-group format and hearing someone's lived experience/perspective. Community members expressed how the session helped humanize health care providers and had interest in participating in future sessions. Discussion Working in direct partnership with a local community organization to create an intimate narrative-based educational experience for medical students is feasible, appreciated by medical student participants, and mutually beneficial to community members and can facilitate positive changes in student knowledge and, potentially, bias regarding SUD.http://www.mededportal.org/doi/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11487Community PartnershipsPatient NarrativesSmall-Group DiscussionsSubstance Use DisorderCase-Based LearningPain Medicine |
| spellingShingle | Noah Sorkow Cameron Lauf Stephen H. Berns The Strength of a Story: Partnering With a Community Organization to Destigmatize Substance Use Disorder MedEdPORTAL Community Partnerships Patient Narratives Small-Group Discussions Substance Use Disorder Case-Based Learning Pain Medicine |
| title | The Strength of a Story: Partnering With a Community Organization to Destigmatize Substance Use Disorder |
| title_full | The Strength of a Story: Partnering With a Community Organization to Destigmatize Substance Use Disorder |
| title_fullStr | The Strength of a Story: Partnering With a Community Organization to Destigmatize Substance Use Disorder |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Strength of a Story: Partnering With a Community Organization to Destigmatize Substance Use Disorder |
| title_short | The Strength of a Story: Partnering With a Community Organization to Destigmatize Substance Use Disorder |
| title_sort | strength of a story partnering with a community organization to destigmatize substance use disorder |
| topic | Community Partnerships Patient Narratives Small-Group Discussions Substance Use Disorder Case-Based Learning Pain Medicine |
| url | http://www.mededportal.org/doi/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11487 |
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