Preventing and Reducing Stigma: Healthcare

Healthcare is defined as an organized system that strives to maintain or improve health by delivering services focused on prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Healthcare professionals are a central part of this system, where they strive to improve access and quality health care. Healthcare professionals, specifically providers, may be concerned about their patient's SUD and how to provide quality care in treating it. Yet inadequate training, knowledge, or support structures for providers contribute to the stigmatization of people with SUD, resulting in poor quality of care and lower patient engagement and care retention levels.