Substance Use, Stigma, and Support

Kristina P. Brant, Ph.D., Extension Educator

Kristina Brant is an Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology at Penn State. She is a qualitative researcher who studies the family and community dimensions of substance use. Her work has been recognized by the American Sociological Association and the Rural Sociological Society, and it has been funded by multiple organizations including the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Center for Rural Pennsylvania. She also works with Penn State Extension to put research into practice through community-based education and programming in rural Pennsylvanian communities.

Since the start of the opioid crisis, communities across the U.S. have been devastated by the growing impacts of opioid use disorder and overdose. Pennsylvania has had one of the highest rates of overdose deaths in the entire country. In this talk, Dr. Brant will discuss one of the biggest factors which impedes people with opioid use disorder from achieving and maintaining successful recovery: stigma. She will also discuss one of the biggest factors which can help people with opioid use disorder achieve and maintain recovery: social support. Mitigating future impacts of the opioid crisis depends on cultivating communities where substance use is destigmatized, and where there is ample support for people with substance use disorder and people in recovery.

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