Contents
Welcome: Stigma-Free Organisations
Understanding Stigma: What It Is and Why It Matters
Evidence‑Based Ways to Reduce Stigma (Overview)
Social Contact: The “Why” and the “How”
Education: Building Understanding Without Oversimplifying
Training: Turning Values Into Behaviour and Practice
Structural Interventions: Changing the game, not just the players
Multicomponent Approaches: Combining Actions for Greater Impact
The Implementation Pathway: Co‑Producing and Delivering Change
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Welcome: Stigma-Free Organisations
Understanding Stigma: What It Is and Why It Matters
Evidence‑Based Ways to Reduce Stigma (Overview)
Social Contact: The “Why” and the “How”
Education: Building Understanding Without Oversimplifying
Training: Turning Values Into Behaviour and Practice
Structural Interventions: Changing the game, not just the players
Multicomponent Approaches: Combining Actions for Greater Impact
The Implementation Pathway: Co‑Producing and Delivering Change
Social Contact: The “Why” and the “How”
Social contact is one of the most effective methods for reducing stigma toward people with lived or living experience of substance use (PWLE). In organisational settings, contact helps disrupt assumptions and stereotypes by replacing distance with understanding, and judgement with human connection.
What “social contact” means here
Social contact is structured contact - where PWLE share experiences of stigma, recovery, care, exclusion, hope, and what helps. It can be:
Direct
(in person, face to face)
Indirect
(video, online, written narratives, imagined interaction)
It is not the same as routine staff‑service user interaction in treatment contexts, because usual service delivery can involve power imbalances and role expectations.
What “ingredients” makes contact effective?
Effective contact includes:
The message
Emphasise that recovery and health improvement are possible
Show competence, strengths, and achievements (including early recovery)
Correct stereotypes carefully (avoid repeating myths in ways that reinforce them
The delivery
PWLE should be supported or trained to share experiences safely and confidently
Use person‑first, respectful language that focuses on the person, not labels
Consider multiple points/forms of contact (e.g. video and a facilitated discussion)
The interaction
Contact is most stigma‑reducing when:
People are treated as equal status participants
There are clearly defined shared goals (e.g. improving services, reducing harm)
There are opportunities for continued interaction afterwards
What it looks like in practice
A well‑designed session might include:
Facilitated reflection: “What surprised you? What assumptions were challenged?”
A discussion on practical changes staff can make
A commitment moment: one change to trial this week
A short-lived experience story (in person or video)
Safeguarding the experience
Social contact must not exploit or re‑traumatise PWLE. Build in:
Clear boundaries and support
Choice and control over what is shared
Fair recognition or compensation for people sharing their lived expertise
Quick reflection
Where could your organisation create structured, safe contact that treats lived experience as equal expertise - not as a “story” for others to consume?