What are the impacts when primary care providers diminish stigma for patients with opioid use disorder in British Columbia?

Stigma is a complex phenomenon with a myriad of detrimental health and social impacts that are not fully studied or understood. Persistent stigma exists towards individuals who have opioid use disorder (OUD) in British Columbia. OUD is a chronic, relapsing, clinical condition that has been identified as one of the most challenging substance use disorders. For those affected, they must also endure the consequences of stigma that promote barriers to health care, health and social inequalities, diminished quality of life as well as increased morbidity and mortality. The current unremitting opioid overdose crisis in British Columbia further emphasizes the importance of eradicating stigma towards individuals who use opioids and/or suffer from OUD, as untreated OUD is fueling this multifaceted public health emergency. For these reasons, an integrative literature review has been conducted to identify how primary care providers in British Columbia can address the intersecting stigmas for individuals suffering OUD. The results are discussed within the context of primary health care in British Columbia. Whittemore and Knafl’s approach to the integrative literature review was utilized in this study to review eleven pertinent articles. The findings suggest that stigma occurs on varying levels for individuals with OUD that serve to reinforce each other and manifest as discrimination, mistrust, social distancing, minimized advocacy, unequal access to health care and suboptimal health care. Further, the findings indicated that the role of primary care providers may be instrumental in eradicating stigma in a timely manner. Recommendations for primary care providers to dismantle the stigma associated with OUD are discussed, and specific strategies for the primary care setting are presented.