New Program Aims to Help Doctors Break Down Stigma of Addiction

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has created a new program to help primary care providers break down the stigma of addiction. The Addiction Performance Project includes a dramatic interpretation of a family’s struggle with addiction, followed by a dialogue among participants designed to foster compassion and understanding for patients living with addiction.

According to a NIDA press release, many primary care providers say they do not have the experience or tools to identify drug use in their patients. The program aims to help these doctors move beyond their comfort zone in discussing drug abuse with their patients. Doctors receive continuing medical education credits for completing the program.

The program begins with a reading of Act III of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night, followed by an expert panel reaction and facilitated audience discussion. The first performances were at Harvard Medical School and Emerson College in Boston on March 28th. The program was also held this weekend in Washington, D.C. The next performance is in Phoenix on May 6th. For more information or to register for a performance visit NIDA’s website.

CORRECTION: We previously stated that the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Addiction Performance Project launched this weekend in Washington, D.C., but the first performances actually took place in Boston on March 28 at Harvard Medical School and Emerson College.