Substance Use Stigma Among Clinical and Nonclinical Staff Who Provide Care for People With HIV in the Deep South: A Pilot Training Intervention

Substance use stigma is a barrier to care among people with HIV (PWH), which is exacerbated in the Deep U.S. South. Nurses and nonclinical staff serve a central role in strengthening and expanding care coordination in clinics that serve PWH. We sought to implement and evaluate a pilot training intervention that aimed to reduce substance use stigma among clinical and nonclinical staff who provide care for PWH in the Deep South. In total, 32 clinical and nonclinical staff from five clinics participated in the training, of whom 22% were nurses and 38% were linkage coordinators. We evaluated the association between the intervention and stigma by asking respondents about their agreement with varying levels of stigmatized statements both before and after the training. Overall, we observed a slight reduction in stigma scores. This training has promise as one low-burden approach to substance use stigma reduction in HIV care settings.