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Strategies to Reduce Addiction Stigma Among Health Professionals

Effect of Exposure to Visual Campaigns and Narrative Vignettes on Addiction Stigma Among Health Professionals: A Randomized Experiment

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05127707
Enrollment
1842
Registered
2021-11-19
Start date
2020-11-13
Completion date
2020-11-30
Last updated
2021-11-19

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Opioid Use Disorder, Stigma, Social, Substance Use Disorders

Brief summary

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of exposure to stigma reduction message frames communicated by visual campaigns and narrative vignettes among a national sample of health professionals.

Detailed description

This randomized experiment evaluated the impact of exposure to message frames communicating the importance of non-stigmatizing language regarding addiction and the effectiveness of medication treatment for opioid use disorder delivered through a visual campaign alone or through a visual campaign in addition to a narrative vignette from the perspective of one of three messengers (a person with opioid use disorder, a clinician, or a health system leader) on attitudes toward people with opioid use disorder and medications for treating opioid use disorder among a national sample of health professionals.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALWords Matter - Visual Campaign

Visual campaign emphasizing the importance of using non-stigmatizing language related to substance use and opioid use disorder in clinical settings.

BEHAVIORALMedication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Works - Visual Campaign

Visual campaign emphasizing the effectiveness and value of medications to treat opioid use disorder in saving lives

BEHAVIORALWords Matter - Visual Campaign & Narrative Vignette (Messenger: Person with Opioid Use Disorder) Experimental: Words Matter - Visual Campaign & Narrative Vignette (Messenger: Clinician)

Visual campaign emphasizing the importance of using non-stigmatizing language related to substance use and opioid use disorder in clinical settings combined with a narrative vignette told from the perspective of a person with opioid use disorder

BEHAVIORALWords Matter - Visual Campaign & Narrative Vignette (Messenger: Clinician)

Visual campaign emphasizing the importance of using non-stigmatizing language related to substance use and opioid use disorder in clinical settings combined with a narrative vignette told from the perspective of a clinician working with patients with opioid use disorder

BEHAVIORALWords Matter - Visual Campaign & Narrative Vignette (Messenger: Health System Administrator)

Visual campaign emphasizing the importance of using non-stigmatizing language related to substance use and opioid use disorder in clinical settings combined with a narrative vignette told from the perspective of a health system administrator/leader

BEHAVIORALMedication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Works - Visual Campaign & Narrative Vignette (Messenger: Person with Opioid Use Disorder)

Visual campaign emphasizing the effectiveness and value of medications to treat opioid use disorder in saving lives combined with a narrative vignette told from the perspective of a person with opioid use disorder

BEHAVIORALMedication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Works - Visual Campaign & Narrative Vignette (Messenger: Clinician)

Visual campaign emphasizing the effectiveness and value of medications to treat opioid use disorder in saving lives combined with a narrative vignette told from the perspective of a clinician who treats people with opioid use disorder

BEHAVIORALMedication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Works - Visual Campaign & Narrative Vignette (Messenger: Health System Administrator)

Visual campaign emphasizing the effectiveness and value of medications to treat opioid use disorder in saving lives combined with a narrative vignette told from the perspective of a health system administrator/leader

Sponsors

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* employed as health professional in the United States, including clinicians (e.g., physicians, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists, and optometrists), technicians and technologists (e.g., laboratory technologist or technician, emergency medical technician, paramedic, licensed practical or licensed vocational nurse, medical records or health information technician, etc.), health aids and assistants (e.g., nursing aide, home health aide, medical assistant, pharmacy aide, phlebotomist, etc.) * participant in existing web-based survey panel (IPSOS's KnowledgeNetworks panel and partner opt-in panel)

Exclusion criteria

* not employed in health profession * not able to complete experiment and survey in English

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Rating of willingness to have person with opioid use disorder marry into their familyMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionItem from the Social Distance Scale that measures one element of stigma (desire for social distance). Measured on 5-point Likert scale with 5 indicating greater unwillingness and 1 indicating greater willingness to have a person with opioid use disorder marry into the family. Measured via survey questionnaire.
Rating of willingness to have person with opioid use disorder as a neighborMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionItem from the Social Distance Scale that measures one element of stigma (desire for social distance). Measured on 5-point Likert scale with 5 indicating greater unwillingness and 1 indicating greater willingness to have a person with opioid use disorder as a neighbor. Measured via survey questionnaire.
Rating of agreement that opioid use disorder is a medical conditionMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of agreement with statement Opioid use disorder is a chronic medical condition like diabetes mellitus on 5-point Likert scale with 5 indicating strong disagreement and 1 indicating strong agreement. Measured via survey questionnaire.
Rating of agreement that individuals with opioid use disorder are to blameMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of agreement with statement Individuals with opioid use disorder only have themselves to blame for their problem on 5-point Likert scale with 5 indicating strong disagreement and 1 indicating strong agreement. Measured via survey questionnaire.
Rating of support for increasing government spending on opioid use disorder treatmentMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of support for increasing government spending on treatment of opioid use disorder with 5 indicating strongly favoring and 1 indicating strongly opposing. Measured via survey questionnaire.
Feeling thermometer measure of warmth toward people with opioid use disorderMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of warmth felt toward people with opioid use disorder with 0 indicating extremely cold and 100 indicating extremely warm. Measured via survey questionnaire.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Stigmatizing Language - substance useMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of agreement that term substance use appropriate in a clinical care setting with 1 indicating strongly agree (that term is appropriate) and 5 indicating strongly disagree (that term is appropriate). Measured via survey questionnaire.
Stigmatizing Language - negative test resultMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of agreement that term negative test result appropriate in a clinical care setting with 1 indicating strongly agree (that term is appropriate) and 5 indicating strongly disagree (that term is appropriate). Measured via survey questionnaire.
Stigmatizing Language - positive test resultMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of agreement that term positive test result appropriate in a clinical care setting with 1 indicating strongly agree (that term is appropriate) and 5 indicating strongly disagree (that term is appropriate). Measured via survey questionnaire.
Stigmatizing Language - baby born with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndromeMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of agreement that term baby born with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome appropriate in a clinical care setting with 1 indicating strongly agree (that term is appropriate) and 5 indicating strongly disagree (that term is appropriate). Measured via survey questionnaire.
Willingness to sign pledge committing to using non-stigmatizing languageMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionBinary (yes/no) measure of whether participant is willing to sign a pledge committing to using non-stigmatizing language related to substance use disorder in clinical settings. Measured via survey questionnaire.
Stigmatizing Language - AddictMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of agreement that term addict appropriate in a clinical care setting with 1 indicating strongly agree (that term is appropriate) and 5 indicating strongly disagree (that term is appropriate). Measured via survey questionnaire.
Rating of willingness to have person taking medication marry into their familyMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of willingness to have person taking medication to treat opioid use disorder marry into family. Item from the Social Distance Scale that measures one element of stigma (desire for social distance). Measured on 5-point Likert scale with 5 indicating greater unwillingness and 1 indicating greater willingness to have a person taking medication to treat opioid use disorder marry into the family. Measured via survey questionnaire.
Rating of willingness to have person taking medication marry as a neighborMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of willingness to have person taking medication to treat opioid use disorder as a neighbor. Item from the Social Distance Scale that measures one element of stigma (desire for social distance). Measured on 5-point Likert scale with 5 indicating greater unwillingness and 1 indicating greater willingness to have a person taking medication to treat opioid use disorder as a neighbor. Measured via survey questionnaire.
Rating of strength/weakness of person taking medicationMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of strength/weakness of person taking medication to treat opioid use disorder on 5-point Likert scale with 5 indicating strong and 1 indicating weak. This is a semantic differential measure. Measured via survey questionnaire.
Rating of agreement that recovery is possibleMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of agreement with statement Most people with opioid use disorder will, with medication treatment, get well and return to productive lives on a 5-point Likert scale with 5 indicating strongly disagree and 1 indicating strongly agree. Measured via survey questionnaire.
Feeling thermometer measure of warmth toward people taking medicationMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of warmth felt toward people taking medication to treat opioid use disorder with 0 indicating extremely cold and 100 indicating extremely warm. Measured via survey questionnaire.
Perception of opioid use disorder treatment effectivenessMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionParticipant perception of whether there is a treatment for opioid use disorder that is effective for a long period of time (three close-ended response options: yes, there is a treatment; no, there isn't such a treatment; don't know). Measured via survey questionnaire.
Stigmatizing Language - Substance abuseMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of agreement that term substance abuse appropriate in a clinical care setting with 1 indicating strongly agree (that term is appropriate) and 5 indicating strongly disagree (that term is appropriate). Measured via survey questionnaire.
Stigmatizing Language - dirtyMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of agreement that term 'dirty' in reference to the result from a drug test appropriate in a clinical care setting with 1 indicating strongly agree (that term is appropriate) and 5 indicating strongly disagree (that term is appropriate). Measured via survey questionnaire.
Stigmatizing Language - cleanMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of agreement that term 'clean' in reference to the result from a drug test appropriate in a clinical care setting with 1 indicating strongly agree (that term is appropriate) and 5 indicating strongly disagree (that term is appropriate). Measured via survey questionnaire.
Stigmatizing Language - addicted babyMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of agreement that term addicted baby appropriate in a clinical care setting with 1 indicating strongly agree (that term is appropriate) and 5 indicating strongly disagree (that term is appropriate). Measured via survey questionnaire.
Stigmatizing Language - person with substance use disorderMeasured immediately post-exposure to message frame interventionRating of agreement that term person with substance use disorder appropriate in a clinical care setting with 1 indicating strongly agree (that term is appropriate) and 5 indicating strongly disagree (that term is appropriate). Measured via survey questionnaire.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 13, 2026