In September, a paper from SIG Director Nabila El-Bassel and other HEALing Communities Study (HCS) researchers was featured in Addiction Policy Forum. In "Artificial Intelligence and Stigma in Addiction Research: Insights From the HEALing Communities Study Coalition Meetings," published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, HCS researchers used artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze community coalition meeting minutes, allowing them to explore the connection between discussions of stigma and the implementation of evidence-based practices to reduce overdose deaths. Among other findings, they determined that stigma was most frequently mentioned in connection with medication for opioid use disorder, and that stigma was more likely to be discussed in counties with larger racial or ethnic minority populations.
“Our findings show that stigma is not just a barrier to substance use treatment, but that it is shaped by race, equity, and local community dynamics," lead author Dr. Nabila El-Bassel told Addiction Policy Forum. "By using AI to analyze hundreds of hours of coalition meeting discussions from the HEALing Communities Study in New York State, we were able to uncover these patterns after the study’s completion. Looking ahead, the same AI tools can be applied in real time during implementation of studies on stigma to generate faster insights, allowing researchers to ensure they are amplifying community voices, and letting people with lived experience guide how we reduce stigma and expand access to lifesaving treatments.”
Read the full story at Addiction Policy Forum.
