A project involving local community members with lived experience of substance use disorder (SUD) is being featured as a success story of the HEALing Communities Study (HCS) in Ohio. In 2022, the Adult Probation Department of the Darke County Common Pleas Court assisted with recruitment of participants for a Photovoice project led and funded by the HCS.
Photovoice is a research methodology where participants take photographs to highlight strengths or concerns in their community. They then meet as a group, along with researchers, to discuss, assess, analyze, and propose solutions to the issues, assigning captions to the photographs, and ultimately sharing the project with community leaders and decision-makers. The goal is to amplify voices of and empower vulnerable and marginalized individuals, like those experiencing or in recovery from substance use.
Darke County’s HCS Photovoice Project featured themes related to stigma toward those with SUD and the successes and challenges faced during recovery. Their work has been shared with the Coalition for a Healthy Darke County, members of Governor DeWine’s RecoveryOhio Advisory Council, and other organizations.
One participant notes the project’s positive impact: “This was probably the first time I felt it was okay to share my feelings of being an outcast, a throw-away, and someone who didn’t deserve another chance.” They continue, “My hope through this research is to remove the barriers and stigma…and to encourage people to not be ashamed or afraid to get some help.”
From January 2020 through June 2022, Darke County took part in the HCS intervention as one of 19 participating counties in Ohio. The study allocated funding for county coalitions to lead a community engaged, data-driven process to select and implement evidence-based practices. A health communications campaign was also implemented in each county to reduce stigma and increase demand for those evidence-based practices. The study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)’s HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term®) Initiative.
“People in recovery from or living with substance use disorder can provide us with guidance on how best to support them along their journey. As researchers, we need to listen to and work with them to identify solutions that lead them to recovery and help them maintain recovery long-term,” says Bridget Freisthler, Ph.D., who worked as one of the principal investigators of the study at The Ohio State University. “We are so appreciative of the community members who participated in this project and taught us about their experiences with addiction.”
More information about study results, as well as the full success story, can be accessed by visiting https://u.osu.edu/hcsohio/.