Exploring Cultural Experiences of Stigma - your questions answered.
Thanks to everyone who joined us online at our recent webinar ‘Exploring Cultural Experiences of Stigma’. If you didn’t get a chance to catch it, we have posted it on our new YouTube channel here: Anti-Stigma Network - YouTube
We have captured the questions posed in the session that we didn’t get a chance to address below. We’ve had great feedback from the session and appreciate that sadly there just wasn’t enough time to explore everything in depth. Stay tuned for more to come from the Network over the next few weeks and months.
Q. Cultural competence seems really important but Annmarie and Aunee both found treatment centres that worked for you. How did those centres work that meant you were accepted and hopefully didn’t stigmatise? So is it that your communities that have stigmatised you more than the hard to reach services where you didn’t get help ?
A.
Annmarie: The treatment centre that I went to didn't tolerate any kind or form of racist from staff or clients in the centre, culture training was delivered to all staff members. For me it was seen that I could safely challenge that type of behaviour and gave me the opportunity to look at my own prejudice and also having traveller's from local services come in to support me, these people gave me inspiration to better myself and educate myself because they were traveller's.
Aunee: When I went to Turning Point to begin my treatment journey, my recovery worker was both in recovery himself and was from a South Asian background. So having that base level of cultural understanding was already there. In the trauma informed rehab, I was the only brown person there, however it didn’t seem to matter because the focus was the PTSD trauma itself.
It wasn’t all plain sailing, in that some of my peers and facilitators had difficulty in understanding the cultural aspects that impacted me and the taboo nature of some of my experiences. The majority of the assignments/learning was not group based but rather done individually, so it didn’t matter if they didn’t understand. I might just add that I had spent a long time trying to run away from the South Asian community and that also had a big part to play in the success of my treatment.
My mum on the other hand struggled with the support she received from the parent and carer groups because she was the only brown person there and felt she wasn’t understood. This impacted the value of the support she received.
Navi: This is a common but mistaken conclusion. While I was fortunate to navigate the cultural barriers to recovery, that doesn’t mean others can or will be able to do the same. One person’s experience is not representative of an entire community.
This line of thinking often shifts the responsibility away from services and places it back onto the communities themselves, implying that the problem lies within them rather than in the accessibility or inclusivity of services. I encountered this frequently in AA when questioning the lack of diversity in meetings — people would point to cultural stigma as the reason, rather than acknowledging the barriers within the service itself.
The reality is that many treatment centres and support spaces remain inaccessible—whether due to language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, or a lack of trust — so while some individuals may find a way through, many are left without the support they need. True cultural competence means recognising and addressing these systemic barriers, rather than assuming that because a few people manage to navigate them, the issue does not exist.
Q. It’s really illuminating to hear personal experiences and articulate and educate us in what stigma means personally and within a community. Please offer and continue to offer your thoughts on how services can be more reachable. I am hearing the service should be culturally aware. The speakers are bridges between communities and services. Would the speakers like to say more about the next steps in implementing what it means to be culturally aware?
A.
Annmarie: I believe all staff and members of any organisation that are working within this field should have cultural training on a regular basis, I also think that it would be good to have traveller peer worker and also traveller friendly lecturer.
Aunee: Looking at the workforce within your service;
Is there diversity?
Can employees speak multiple languages that would enable effective communication?
Has cultural competence been embedded in the workplace learning process?
Is literature available in different languages?
Have connections been forged with grassroots organisations that support individuals from marginalised communities?
Have connections between community leaders and the service been established?
Does the service have lived experience involvement from individuals from ethnic diverse backgrounds?
Stella:
Research into the various cultures that are connected to clients
Training for teams - not surface level training – real training both theory and practical
Ask the very clients you support how their cultures impact them
Take part in opportunities to find out more, celebrate and support various cultures
Look at case studies
Get clients involved in various levels of the support they receive – including decision making
Get out into the community
Make adjustments at services that benefit different cultures
Communication is vital
Navi: I have written a piece on this here - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-equity-over-equality-recovery-services/?trackingId=ISJC1eYPPibhZyh8u%2Bn0bA%3D%3D
Question for Annmarie - What was your experience of being a woman from a traveller background once you were in services? Did you experience any additional stigma?
Annmarie: Yes I have came across some form of racism in the services, a lot of services haven't have the opportunity to work with a woman from the traveller community like myself who won't tolerate discrimination and who is open to train people in the services, and how they themselves can have a better understand of the travelling culture.
Question for Annmarie - How can we get to know more about the community to support with building those bridges?
Annmarie: I suppose culture training would be a start and holding activities and inviting some of the travelling community to show some of their ways, and for individuals who are looking for help that our culture is different from other cultures, in respect and understanding must work both ways.
Question for Aunee - Aunee mentioned cultural competence in the services, which is of high importance. I would like to ask for recommendations on how services can understand the community better and enhance cultural competency.
Aunee: Establish connections with community leaders.
Connect with grassroots organisations that are specific to ethnic minority groups (there are plenty across the country). This allows the service an opportunity to learn about the intersectionality that exists under the “hard to reach” group label, it provides a blueprint on how to work with members of these communities to set up and establish new grassroots projects, it provides an insight into existing barriers which individuals from these communities face and how the service has overcome them.
Looking at the diversity within the service itself:
Is there a workforce that represents the community in which the service is based?
Is there a range of languages spoken by members of the team?
Has any effort been made to connect with individuals with lived experience from marginalised communities?
Comment for Stella - thank you. I really resonate with this "Stigma is a silent issue, killer, narrative, poison etc that silently kills hope. Ohh this is so true" Am so touched. Experienced it first hand as a mental health worker during hand overs, there is no empathy or kindness when a service users profile is read. Thanks for reminding us of this.
Stella: Thanks for your comment, most definitely it can be disheartening for professionals to witness, and can become the norm if not addressed early on. There are obvious reasons such as stress, lack of capacity, resources and more that can create such attitudes however, it’s vital professionals show professionalism and remember that they are working with humans and impacting their journeys in many ways, including how others may portray them. We need to constantly be self-aware of our own beliefs and behaviours.
Q. My bigger question for the Network is how can we try to get these messages out a national level, so that the public/general population can feel less stigma towards people that use drugs?
Anti—Stigma Network: Everyone has a role in making change. People in different formal roles and occupations can influence attitudes through their role. Whether that is a formal role as a treatment provider, employers, journalist, local authority official, police officer, nurse, etc who can influence how their occupation acts, when interacting with people affected by substance use.
People can also recognise their own informal role as family members, community leaders or participants, members of friendship groups, consumers of media or services, etc and have an influence. We all have potential to make change. Everyone can do something no matter who they are. Perhaps the most important thing we can all do is to avoiding leaping to quick judgments about other people. As the old saying goes don’t judge someone before you walk a mile in their shoes.
And if you want to learn more, or share what you have learnt, join the network.
Notes
Stella Kityo has kindly shared the slides from her presentation here: Just another statistic! Stigma against multi-needs women. Stella Kityo.
Heewr Bag has shared the following links which touch on the topics he discussed: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2dxnn1406do, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct4v03