PR Campaign Submission Final

OSWEGO HEALTH DEPARTMENT STIGMA CAMPAIGN 1
OSWEGO COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
ANTI-STIGMA CAMPAIGN
ANNA CHICHESTER, DANIEL DONOVAN, MAGGIE RAGOTZKIE, KERRI SHEA, AND EMILY ZIEMBA
SUNY OSWEGO
PROFESSOR TAEJIN JUNG
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover Page ………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………… 1
Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………………….………………………. 2
Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………………...3
Client Research
Background ………………………………………………………………….…………………………..…... 4
Public Perception ……………………………………………………………………………….…………. 5
Situation Analysis …………………………………………………………………….…………...………. 6
SWOT Analysis ………………………………………………………………………………………………..9
Audience Research ……………………………...………………………………………………………………… 10
Goals and Objectives …………………………….……………………………………………..………………… 12
Strategies and Tactics………………………………………………………………………………….…………. 13
Evaluation……………………………………………………………………………………….15
Works Cited …………………………………………………………………………………… 16
Appendix
A………………………………………………………………………………………….17
B …………………………………………………………………………………...…… 26
C………………………………………………………………………………………....30
D…………………………………………………………………………………………31
E…………………………………………………………………………………………35
F…………………………………………………………………………………………36
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
After conducted research by the New York State Department of Health showcased
how Oswego county was one of the top-ranking counties in the state regarding number of
opioid overdoses among its residents, the Oswego County Health Department received
multiple grants to fund efforts to lessen the impact of the opioid crisis in the county. After
further research indicated that one of the biggest deterrents of people with substance
abuse disorders receiving clinical help was prejudice experienced in healthcare facilities,
the department invested in further studies of person-first language and harm reduction.
The OCHD hopes to utilize an anti-stigma campaign to lessen the impact of stigma-driven
language and decrease the number of opioid overdoses in the county.
Research conducted by the department indicated that people with addiction
disorders face a tremendous amount of dismissal and hate in their path to recovery by
people closest to them as well as healthcare professionals who treat them. Therefore, the
target audience was split into two groups: healthcare practitioners in Oswego County and
Oswego County residents, namely those with a relationship to people with addiction
disorders. Two in-depth interviews were conducted with healthcare officials in Oswego
County regarding their experiences with addiction in the county. Additionally, an in-depth
interview was conducted with a pharmacist regarding their experience with the opioid
crisis. Surveys were drafted for distribution to healthcare workers within the county.
Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus Pandemic interfering with the healthcare
system and subsequently the research efforts of this campaign, the surveys were unable to
be distributed to healthcare professionals in the county. The interviews conducted with
healthcare officials showed that the problem in the county is largely influenced by the
uninformed belief through the healthcare system and the general public that addiction is a
choice and not a disease. Many people that go to seek treatment leave and do not return as
a result of the way they are spoken to. The pharmaceutical interview revealed more about
the process of Narcan rehabilitation, which is often stigmatized as a drug that aids with the
recovery process.
Goals were carefully selected that combated different elements of the stigma and
opioid issues in the county. Our goals were: decrease the negative stigma surrounding
opioid users, increase the number of people seeking treatment and help for opioid
addiction. Following the development of these goals, our team developed objectives and
tactics that targeted each group. Many of the tactics culminated under the campaign brand
“Words Matter Week”, an internal public relations campaign intent on building moral in
combating the opioid crisis, educating people on the impacts of stigma, and promoting the
usage of person centered language. There were additional promotional materials made for
distribution to the general public.
Lastly, the research team outlined a variety of evaluation procedures to carried
through the campaign and conducted at the end of the campaign. These tactics include
follow-up surveys to the healthcare providers in Oswego County, response surveys to the
various events to be held throughout the week, and judgmental responses through health
department team leaders in the field. Social media analytics and reviews can also be used
to field results.
CLIENT RESEARCH
Background
In October of 2019, the Oswego County Health Department (OCHD) received a $1.5
million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA) that would be used to combat the effects of substance abuse disorder. This was
in response to the alarming rate of opioid overdoses in the county shown in the New York
State annual report. Oswego County is rated as having the 26th highest amount of opioid
overdoses in the country. In 2016, Oswego County had 19.6 deaths per 100,000 members
of the population due to opioid overdose, while the New York State average was 15.0
deaths per 100,000 (New York State Department of Health, 2019). The OCHD has yet to
produce any campaigns on their own relating to the grant. However, plans to inform public
audiences about person-centered language and how to create a supportive environment
are in the process. These new campaigns are designed to change the negative stigma
surrounding opioid patients, and alter the language used about them to ensure comfort
when receiving care. Initial research regarding substance abuse disorder indicates that a
change in stigma and language regarding the illness could aid those battling addiction
(Stancliff, 2019). The funding of the grant would also be used to increase the number of
services available to those in need, and educate community members about the prominent
issue of drug abuse. These efforts are a continuation of the organizations mission “to
promote wellness, prevent disease and protect all who live, work, play or learn in Oswego
County to achieve a healthier community through leadership and collaboration.”
The anti-stigma campaign is being overseen by Diane Oldenburg and Vera
Dunsmoor, Diane being the Senior Public Health Educator and Vera being the Director of
Patient Services. As a predominantly rural district, the department has fewer human
resources than that of a larger city district. The department receives funding that is
contingent upon the population of the respective areas, therefore Oswego County receives
less funding than larger counties. The ethical basis of the organization is built upon
transparency within the community and providing information about relevant health
concerns. The department is looking to further educate the public on this crisis, and has
been doing so by discussing the issue with public relations teams who are beginning to
plan various programs and campaigns.
The patients who use the OCHD’s services are substantial supporters as they benefit
from the care and assistance given. The New York State Department of Health also qualifies
as a major supporter, as par their description, they oversee the success of the county.
Lastly, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention will actively partner with the OCHD
to aid in research and provide funding for initiatives. The OCHD is aiming to target
healthcare professionals as they work directly with those that struggle with substance
abuse disorder. By altering their perspectives of the individuals they work with, more users
may potentially seek out assistance from these professionals as they will less likely turn
away in fear of judgement. This goal can be achieved with the support of agencies and
groups such as the ones previously named.
Given that Oswego County lacks inpatient resources, healthcare providers that are
within close proximity of Oswego, such as Seneca and Onondaga County, can be seen as
competitors. Citizens within Oswego County that cannot obtain necessary services within
their district are likely to utilize the services of an adjacent district. In regards to the
OCHD’s initiative to relieve these stigmas, the client is faced with the additional opinions of
public service professionals, who may believe that people deserve to suffer from their
addictions.
Public Perception
The visibility of the OCHD, in reference to the opioid crisis, has been lacking given
their scarce online presence and their outreach is limited to healthcare providers. The
OCHD’s Instagram account has a total of 172 followers and 73 posts, and their posts have
gotten no more than 16 likes. The first post discussing the opioid crisis was put up on
August 28, 2019, and it described how to properly respond to an opioid overdose. This post
only received three likes meaning not too many people cared to read the content. The
Instagram account is utilized inconsistently as during August of 2019 there was a post
almost everyday, then no content was posted again until October. On Facebook, 1,483 users
follow the OCHD page and content is posted much more consistently. On this platform,
posts are shared from various accounts and comments are frequently seen. The sharing
concept is crucial on Facebook since it allows users to copy and paste a post onto their
account, meaning the content is visible to more users. Certain programs offered by OCHD
are highlighted frequently on Facebook, but opioid overdose information is scarce.
Oswego County has systemic issues regarding the lack of inpatient resources to
people suffering from substance abuse disorder. There are no inpatient facilities and only
one outpatient center for opioid users within the county. The OCHD did facilitate one event
in partnership with the VOW Foundation and the NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance
Abuse Services in December of 2019. This program was used to educate community
members on how to respond and reverse a suspected opioid overdose using narcan.
However, there has been limited outreach to the community to understand stigmas against
those with substance abuse disorder. Understanding the prejudices individuals have
against those with substance abuse disorder is a critical issue, public audiences must be
educated about harm reduction in order for these stigmas to decrease and opinions to
become more accepting. Until these stigmas lessen, individuals suffering will continue to
feel at risk when seeking support from medical professionals in fear of judgement and
insufficient treatment.
Situation Analysis
The OCHD has had a long accumulating issue with addiction among its residents.
The OCHD first became aware of the county’s issue with controlled substances following a
massive Hepatitis A outbreak during the Fall of 2019. In response, the county partnered
with AIDS Community Resource in order to provide resources to the county, including
introducing a needle exchange program and bringing in nurses to provide free
vaccinations. Health Education Director Diane Oldenburg discussed how the county had
been facing an increase in the amount of mothers coming into the maternal health trial
program with drug addictions. Rates of abortion are low in Oswego county due to the
evident poverty within the area as well as lack of resources among pregnant mothers,
therefore nurses in the county would see babies born with withdrawal symptoms. The
catalyst to OCHD’s involvement in the crisis was as a result of the county receiving two
grants, one state and one federal, to increase the county’s resources to combat the issue.
The grants have increased their resources regarding referrals, stigma research, and has
provided screening procedures from a mentoring district. The OCHD’s Opioid Overdose
Prevention Program has coordinated narcan training among members of the public and
safety officials. Oswego County developed a hotline to aid those with controlled substance
addiction, however the effort came with little success as only one call was made. The efforts
to improve resources to Oswego County residents with addictions are an ongoing
development.
Factors contributing to the opioid crisis in the region are both as a result of the
circumstances of the residents as well as protocols with healthcare professionals. Oswego
County suffers from generational poverty that impacts the culture in which residents are
raised. Many addicts who seek aid have long standing addictions that result from drug
trafficking at a young age, which is perpetuated by parents who were trying to use their
child to make money to live and support an addiction. The opioid crisis has long
contributed to a higher rate of child abuse and neglect rates as reported by social services
and healthcare providers. There is also the phenomena relating to healthcare professionals
overprescribing controlled substances.
Pharmaceutical representative, James Zucker works with Express Scripts in upstate
New York. His knowledge on narcan and the process of refilling prescriptions was noted as
aspects were applicable to the opioid crisis. Narcan works as an antagonist and affects the
receptors of the brain which aids in pain relief. Narcan poses significant side effects such as
respiratory depression, sedation, disorientation, and causes the brain to seize the recession
of opioids. Opioids are proven to drop blood pressure and narcan is responsible for helping
an individual breath again. New York has a nationwide database which records information
of each individual with prescribed prescriptions. This process is ongoing in many states to
limit the supply of prescriptions such as opioids so that pharmacists/ physicians do not
oversupply narcotics. Another prescription, institutes another doctor's visit, this
precaution limits refills. This is a way to combat the opioid addiction in communities. This
process is not federally mandated because some states are more controlled than others.
His professional experience recognizes that this epidemic is an affiliate as an illness over an
addiction. The population seeks older individuals, cancer/ terminally ill, the homeless, and
the unemployed.
Initiatives of the OCHD are currently with the focus of advocating for the
development of treatment programs for those suffering from substance abuse. By
communicating with providers within the area of the severity of the case, they are
increasing the amount of treatment options in the area available to those who suffer from
opioid addiction. The FQHC in Oswego County is the only health service provider who is
giving drug addiction services at the primary level. However, the only provider who is
providing opioid medications is located in Pulaski, NY. This provides a barrier for victims
who are financially incapable of affording transportation. Oswego and Jefferson county
have been taking steps to lessen the amount of drug abuse in the area by initiating the Drug
Take Back Act in 2019, which requires drug manufacturers and pharmacies to take back
unwanted medications at their facilities and stores (Ritchie, 2019).
Preliminary research towards Harm Reduction and combating drug addiction was
conducted by the New York State Department of Health and the AIDS Institute to guide
primary care providers within the state when treating patients with substance abuse
disorder. The research provided instructions on how to implement a harm reduction
treatment plan which would allow for the most effective care. In clinical context, “Harm
reduction is an approach and a set of practical strategies targeted to reduce the negative
consequences associated with substance use. It is founded on respect for and the rights of
those individuals who use drugs” (Stancliff, 2019, p. 3). Clinicians can align their practices
with harm reduction by helping their patients set goals for themselves, attempting to
understand the role substance abuse plays in the daily lives of their patients, and agreeing
on an appropriate level of care.
This study also focused on the severity of stigma control, and it formulated
suggestions on how to reduce stigmas amongst healthcare professionals. “Clinicians should
examine their assumptions and decisions for any personal biases that may affect their
ability to provide effective care for individuals who use substances. Clinicians and other
staff interacting with patients should use neutral terms to describe all aspects of substance
use and avoid language that perpetuates stigma” (Stancliff, 2019, p. 7). Acknowledging
personal biases is a crucial step in educating health care professionals as they may not truly
understand their unconscious prejudices. Avoiding stigmatizing terms and utilizing neutral
medical terms is seen as more respectful, and it may be easier for patients to understand
themselves. Practitioners and health care professionals should be using person-first
language. Instead of referring to someone as a “drug addict, alcoholic, junkie, or crackhead,”
professionals should utilize the phrase “a person who uses drugs, alcohol, or substances.”
In the example stated previously, referring to someone as “a person with substance abuse”
suggests that the person has a problem that can be addressed. Referring to someone as “a
drug abuser” implies that the person is the problem (Words Matter, 2017). Training health
care professionals about this person-centered language is a critical aspect of our campaign.
By considering the language individuals use more carefully, the stigma around substance
abuse disorder may lessen (Marshall, Green, Yedinak & Hadland, 2018).
A 2014 case study from the Department of Health and Human Services uncovered
some surprising facts and figures about the opioid crisis. This study uncovered that
prescription opioids act on the same part of the brain as heroin and morphine which means
they are more likely to be abused. This also means that when obtaining opioids becomes
too difficult or expensive, trends show that people begin turning to heroin instead. This
was a trend which was discovered when looking at drug use data from fourth quarter 2009
to first quarter 2012. This trend shows that over time the number of people who use
oxycontin has decreased, but the number of people who use heroin has increased. Looking
at the same study, the number of heroin users has almost doubled from 2005 to 2012
(Volkow, 2014). This startling trend shows how bad the opioid crisis has become in the last
15 years and how it is leading to increased heroin use.
A study which was published in 2018 follows three young adults who suffered from
opioid addiction and how they had to overcome stigma throughout their treatment. The
first person analyzed had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Depression to go
along with his opioid addiction. During his treatment with buprenorphine, medical
professionals were weary about his sobriety. His parents continuously asked the same
question, so the man had to keep going back to doctors in order to reassure himself that
treatment was the right thing to do. The second patient was a 21 year old new mother who
had relapsed into drug use after the birth of her child and was put on buprenorphine.
Similarly, she was questioned for using it as some medical staff members would say that
she is no longer showing withdrawal symptoms, claiming she does not need to be on
medication any more. After much fighting back, the patient left the detoxification facility
due to the staff and has been stable on buprenorphine ever since. The third and final
person in this study was a female who had used opioids but then began to use heroin as it
was cheaper. This person was prescribed buprenorphine and went to peer recovery
support groups as part of her treatment. However, one month into going to the peer
recovery group she stopped taking the buprenorphine and started taking heroin again. Her
peers were telling her that she was not truly sober due to taking buprenorphine. (Hadland,
Park and Bagley, 2018). These cases all show people who have been negatively influenced
by the stigma surrounding the treatment of Opioid Abuse Disorder. Therefore, if the stigma
can be changed, these people would be able to recover quicker and stay off drugs for good.
SWOT Analysis
The campaign involving the OCHD’s efforts to combat opioid overdose will present a
plethora of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the community. One
primary strength of the campaign is the high level of awareness the OCHD has regarding
the concerns of the citizens of Oswego County. The Health Department offers a variety of
programs that are relatable to a wide range of ages and health demographics in the region.
The health care professionals in Oswego County are highly educated and use a variety of
resources to better satisfy the public population and their needs. A primary weakness
regarding the campaign is the length of time in which our public relations team has to
implement our programs. Fifteen weeks is a condensed amount of time to alter the
perspectives of such a large population. Another weakness is the lack of visibility the
organization has to the general public, their social media platforms are not consistently
active and outreach in regards to this specific issue is scarce. Oswego County acknowledges
the lack of relevant resources and how this affects the Health Department and its intentions
as in previous interviews we have discussed how there are no inpatient care facilities
within the county.
The opioid crisis is implicit of many opportunities to reduce the essence of harm
reduction throughout the community. The grant money can be used to help create
opportunities in the coming months to help this crisis. Another opportunity is expanding
their presence on social media, as many people in this day and age use social media to get
their news. One initial threat the OCHD may endeavor is the dissemination of information
and harmful rhetoric amongst the public. Conversations about health related topics like
these are difficult to start given it’s a sensitive subject. Also, changing the perspective of an
entire population is only achievable if the individuals being targeted care to better
themselves and the cause. Health care professionals have to want to change, they have to
want to be educated; or else their mindset and language will never completely change.
Health care professionals may also fear intimidation, other sources of authority may
disagree with the efforts being made. And lastly, one threat may stem from the inability to
persuade users to seek help. Some people may neglect the help and resources available out
of fear of judgement.
AUDIENCE RESEARCH
In order to create the most impact when implementing anti-stigma initiatives
among people who have influence on people who struggle with substance abuse, the
researchers chose the target audience of healthcare providers, with a secondary audience
being people connected to opioid users. To further the understanding of the values and
protocols of the target audiences in relation to the Oswego County Health Department, the
researchers conducted three in-depth interviews. Two interviews were conducted face-to-
face and one was conducted over the phone. The interviewees were selected health
industry professionals and the interviews asked varying questions related to substance
abuse protocol and the respective procedures. Since the goal of the organization is focused
on implementing new procedures within partners that they actively work with and
oversee, the interviews focused primarily on internal affairs with Oswego county’s health
providers. The client’s intent is to decrease the use of stigma driven language amongst
healthcare providers within the county, emphasizing the use of person-centered language.
Our participants included Diane Oldenburg, Senior Public Health Educator at
Oswego County Health Department [Appendix A], Sandra Waldron, Director of Operations
and Corporate Compliance Officer at Farnham Family Services [Appendix B], and James
Zucker, Pharmaceutical Technician at Express Scripts. Oldenburg and Waldron work
extensively with patients with opioid abuse disorders and oversee programming to benefit
the community. Zucker was a resource with pharmaceutical procedures and knowledge
regarding the restrictions currently in place on restricted substances.
The interviews were designed to assess credibility and assess the baseline of what
current procedures that the community has in place. The first set of questions discussed
position title, qualifications, and knowledge of the subject matter. The second set of
questions discussed awareness of the problems as they exist in Oswego county and the
current extent of the opioid crisis, as well as existing protocols that the medical community
has in place. The third set of questions were meant to discuss person centric language and
the impact of stigma.
When questioned regarding the current stigma against opioid users, all subjects
agreed that there is a lack of empathy and overarching judgement when dealing with
people with opioid addictions. Oldenburg and Waldron spoke extensively about how
people who struggle with addiction have faced continued prejudice within the media,
family units, and most disparagingly, in healthcare facilities. In addition to the public use of
hate charged language when referring to people as “junkies”, “crackheads” or “druggies”,
there is an apparent misinformed understanding among most people that people who
suffer from addiction have their disorders by choice. People assume that if a person suffers
from an addiction, it’s the person’s fault for taking the substance in the first place. This
belief is also prevalent in the healthcare sector, as some practitioners carry the belief that
people should be denied treatment because of their decisions. Oldenburg used the example
of how some nurses are put in the position of treating babies who are born with opioid
addictions due to their mother’s addictions, and then feel justified in blaming the mother.
Zucker discussed the addictive nature of the substances and how brain chemistry
influences whether a person develops an addiction or not. The chemical nature of how
addictions are developed are widely outside the addict’s control, however they are
punished for it.
The third and fourth section of questions included the current communication with
patients and actions that need to be taken. One of the biggest struggles that people who
have addictions face is that they will be demonized not only by family members, but also
face prejudice when they receive treatment from healthcare professionals as well. One of
the biggest deterrents to people who struggle receiving continued treatment for their
addictions is the treatment they receive when in hospitals or receiving care. There are a
number of healthcare professionals that question the disbursement of Narcan to opioid
users, as Narcan in itself is a controlled substance. However, as Narcan is a substance used
to lessen the effects of withdrawal, it is a key part of the recovery process.
The results of the interviews determined that there is extensive knowledge in the
medical community regarding the issues of the opioid crisis in Oswego County. There are
also protocols regarding controlled distribution. Thusfar, there is no educational program
for healthcare professionals centered on person-centered language. There is no baseline
screening program that tells healthcare professionals if there is an addiction present upon
a patients entry, however most often professionals can diagnose an addiction when
patients come in and are assessed. The local healthcare professionals are aware of the
socioeconomic factors that contribute to the addiction problems present in the community,
including the contributions of generational poverty, domestic abuse, and the prescription
protocol. While Zucker discussed there being limitations on controlled substances
statewide, there is a need for national mandate. Overall, the three interviewees agree that
an increase education about stigma and person-centered language is necessary in the
medical field to improve the treatment process for people struggling with addiction. This
will in turn decrease the number of overdoses in the county.
Also created as a part of the research process were surveys to be distributed to
healthcare practitioners. These surveys were to assess the healthcare practitioners’
preferred mode of communication, existing prejudices, and level of understanding of the
opioid crisis. However, due to the development of the Coronavirus Pandemic in March of
2020, these surveys were unable to be distributed due to the state of the healthcare system
at the time that data was being collected.
GOALS & OBJECTIVES
GOAL #1
Decrease the negative stigma surrounding Opioid users
Objective #1: Decrease the usage of stigma-driven language among healthcare
professionals
Objective #2: Decrease the negative attitude towards people struggling with opioid
addiction.
This goal was chosen as the primary goal of the client due to the influence of the negative
stigma on people who attempt to undergo treatment for addiction in the county. Stigma
could also play a roll in preventing people from pursuing treatment for their illness. Studies
have shown that one of the largest deterrents in people receiving treatment is because
healthcare workers have shown them disrespect and have used hateful language when
addicts enter care. Deterring people from receiving treatment is a large proponent in the
excessive overdoses in the county.
GOAL #2
Increase the number of people seeking treatment and help for opioid addiction
Objective #1: Increase awareness of services available to patients
This second goal was derived from the overarching idea that the county wants to decrease
the number of overdoses in the area. Within the department’s realm of control is the ability
to increase outreach to citizens in the county and bringing more people in to receive
treatment. Most citizens in the county do not know about any programs offered or existing
option for them to receive help. By increasing awareness, more people will be made aware
of the options open to them and therefore have the choice to pursue the betterment of their
health.
STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

In an effort to accomplish the goal of decreasing the negative stigma surrounding
opioid users, the strategies being employed include audience engagement and
transparency. Audience engagement is to be applied to the objective of decreasing the use
of stigma driven language among healthcare professionals due to the interpersonal nature
of the health field. When discussing things including patient welfare and interpersonal
conversation regarding sensitive issues, it’s important to confront those topics in a face-to-
face format. Allowing for audience engagement will allow for immediate feedback from
healthcare practitioners and will create a collaborate mindset within the workforce that
will reinforce the moral towards change of behavior. The strategy of transparency will be
used when accomplishing the objective of changing the negative attitude towards people
struggling with opioid addiction. In the line of work that healthcare professionals are
involved in, it’s important that providers are aware of the impact of drug addiction on the
community at large and the organizations role in combating it. Attitudes are not going to
change if people are receiving information that is filtered through a singular perception. All
practitioners must be aware of the severity of the problem, each provider’s role in
combating the issue as well as the direct impact that words have on people who struggle
with addiction.
The second goal of increasing the number of people seeking help for opioid
addiction is targeted more towards members of the Oswego community that are impacted
by opioid addiction. This could include people who suffer directly from opioid addiction, or
those closely connected to someone who suffers from addiction. To accomplish the
objective of increasing awareness of service to patients, the strategy of generating news is
to be employed. This type of strategy will maximize reach and succinctly report
information to people to whom the information pertains. With information broadcasted to
a mass communication format, it promotes the circulation of information from people of all
backgrounds that there are services available in Oswego county.
GOAL #1
Decrease the negative stigma surrounding Opioid users
Objective #1: Decrease the usage of stigma-driven language among healthcare
professionals
Tactics:
 Implement periodic mandatory training sessions and meetings that discuss

the impact of word choice and stigma driven language on patients with
addiction, with a special kickoff presentation at the beginning of “Words
Matter Week”
 Release a memo targeted towards department leaders at different provider
locations discussing the current influence of stigma driven language to
encourage supervision towards the matter, as well as the implementation of
“Words Matter Week”.
Objective #2: Decrease the negative attitude towards people struggling with opioid
addiction.
Tactics:
 Distribute a research report to practitioners within the county discussing

Harm Reduction.
 Develop fact sheet and pamphlet to be distributed to healthcare practitioners
that discusses the realities of opioid abuse.
 Arrange a luncheon with a survivor that includes the workers in different
healthcare facilities in the county. Luncheon comprised of guided discussion
with overdose survivor as well as a Q&A. Arrange gift for survivor.
 Create promotional materials to be distributed amongst hospital staff to
show support of opioid addicts and their respective journey branded under
“Words Matter Week”
o T-shirts
o Buttons
o Stickers
GOAL #2
Increase the number of people seeking treatment and help for opioid addiction
Objective #1: Increase awareness of services available to patients
Tactics:
 Promote services during tabling at the Oswego Farmer’s Market

 Circulate fliers in grocery stores and other community areas that discuss the
services available to people suffering from addiction
 Develop brochures to be available in practitioner offices and waiting rooms
that include services information (out-patient services, needle exchange
program, Farnham Narcan training)
 Social media campaign branded under “Words Matter Week” launched on
varying platforms with an emphasis on Facebook.
o Content about what’s happening in facilities
o Content about out-patient services
o Content about patient success stories
o Content about the effects of negative stigma language
 Develop and send a comprehensive news release and media kit to local
Oswego news stations.
 Develop letter to the editor to be sent to online and paper news
organizations in Oswego and Syracuse city district.
 Develop advertisement to be posted on public transit.
CAMPAIGN MATERIALS
STIGMA AND PATIENT INFORMATIONAL BROCHURE (APPENDIX C)
The Stigma and Patient Informational Brochure is a type of organizational media
tactic that is intended as a publication of the Oswego County Health Department. Intended
to be distributed to health service providers at the mandatory training sessions, it provides
information on the effects of stigma and stigma driven language on those impacted by
addiction. It also is a physical piece of literature that represents the brand of the Words
Matter campaign, reinforcing the idea to people participating in the campaign.
SURVIVOR LUNCHEON OUTLINE (APPENDIX D)

The planned Opioid Addiction Survivor Luncheon is planned as an interpersonal
communication tactic with the intent of socializing healthcare professionals with one
another and acquainting them personally with survivors of opioid addiction. This
presentation is intended to educate a large group of people at once, and to introduce a
social element into the cause. It places a face on the people that suffer from addiction and
humanizes the disease, thus combating the one-dimensional nature of stigma. By bringing
people together to participate in the talkback as an event, it socializes them and increases
group assimilation towards the cause.
SOCIAL MEDIA RELEASE PICTURE CONTENT (APPENDIX E)

This piece of news media tactic material is intended to be included in a social media
release. It is a collection of social media photographic content to be included in the Social
Media Release. Studies show that the inclusion of a picture will generate more engagement
with a post, therefore providing visual content to aide with content circulation is important
when drafting posts on both the organizational platform, and when sending them to news
organizations. This section also includes graphics that could be circulated that deepen the
public understanding of the overdose issue.
STIGMA ADVERTISEMENT (APPENDIX F)

This advertisement is adaptable for public display, print distribution (magazine
inserts, program insert, newspaper advertising), and is intended to be circulated as a form
of advertising and promotional tactic. It can also be adapted for out of home advertisement.
The designed advertisement is successful in both re-enforcing the message of the campaign
and acting an emotional stimulus that communicates the primary message of the campaign.
INTERVENTION WORKSHOP OUTLINE (APPENDIX G)

An interpersonal campaign tactic intended to educate health professionals during the
campaign week.
SAVE THE DATE (APPENDIX H)

An organizational advisory sent out to health professionals to inform them of the upcoming
campaign.
TRANSIT ADVERTISEMENT (APPENDIX I)

A promotional advertisement intended to communicate the effects of stigma and the
campaign to members of the public.
OPIOID USE BROCHURE (APPENDIX J)

A promotional brochure intent for the public to educate them on stigma and services in the
area.
WORDS MATTER 5K OUTLINE (APPENDIX K)

An interpersonal event intent to involve hospital workers and members of the public.
PROMOTIONAL SHIRT DESIGN (APPENDIX L)

Promotional tactic intent to be distributed to healthcare workers as a part of the campaign.
FACT SHEET (APPENDIX M)

An organizational tactic intent to inform people as to the statistics of stigma.
PRESS RELEASE (APPENDIX N)

A news media tactic intent to inform outlets of the upcoming campaign.
SOCIAL MEDIA CALENDAR (APPENDIX O)

Promotional media tactic intended to further engage following audiences.
CAMPAIGN FLYER (APPENDIX P)

Promotional flyer intended to inform audiences.
OUTLINE FOR TALKING POINTS AND ACTIVITIES FOR WORDS TRAINING (APPENDIX Q)
Interpersonal media tactic intended to educate healthcare workers in a direct setting.
MEDIA ADVISORY (APPENDIX R)

MEMO (APPENDIX S)
An organizational tactic intent to
COMMUNITY UPDATE (APPENDIX T)

EVALUATION
At the conclusion of the campaign, the study must be evaluated at varying levels in
order to properly review its outcome and whether the goals and objectives were met. The
evaluation research would be both quantitative and qualitative in design and would
require data keeping throughout the implementation process regarding event attendance
and interactions. This process would be designed with the structure of a before-and-after
study, as it would be the most effective way to review the change in awareness, attitude,
and behavior as influenced by the campaign. These results would be reliant on the survey
work done during the search phase and doing comparative work to the early results.
The first objective of this campaign was to decrease the usage of stigma-driven
language among healthcare professionals. A way that this can be measured for
improvement would be starting the implementation of comment cards and feedback forms
for people receiving treatment for opioid addiction both before the campaign and after the
campaign. This feedback will specifically inquire as to if there was any derogatory language
used within the session with the provider. Through coding and quantification of these
comments, the researchers can measure how many negative and positive feedback cards
they receive throughout the process. This type of objective can also be evaluated by a
judgement assessment by various department heads. As a part of the program, it can be
mandated that department heads give quarterly reports regarding progress they have
firsthand reviewed as to how their staff talks about their patients that suffer from
addiction.
The second objective of this campaign was to decrease the negative attitude towards
people struggling with opioid addiction. As this is an acceptance objective, it would be
appropriate to conduct a post-campaign research survey to the same people that were
surveyed during the preliminary research portion. Comparing the usage of the results of
the first set of research questions, especially the likert scale, will assess how people’s
disposition towards people with substance use disorders has been changed. Additionally,
focus groups could be conducted to assess how attitudes and impressions have shifted over
time. There will also be reaction surveys sent out after all interpersonal campaign tactic
executions, inquiring what people learned from their experiences.
The third objective of this campaign was to increase awareness of services available
to patients. Ways this could be calculated include post-campaign patient survey for the
services offered and treatments regarding how they found out about the services offered.
Additionally, media impressions for all circulated social media posts could be catalogued
and tracked. Through analyzing these different evaluation techniques, the research team
will be able to deem whether the campaign was successful or not.
WORKS CITED
Hadland, S. E., Park, T. W., & Bagley, S. M. (2018). Stigma associated with medication
treatment for young adults with opioid use disorder: a case series. Addiction Science
& Clinical Practice, 13(1), NA. Retrieved from https://link-gale-
com.ezproxy.oswego.edu/apps/doc/A546781492/HRCA?u=oswego&sid=HRCA&xi
d=81e30c16
Marshall, B. D., Green, T. C., Yedinak, J. L., & Hadland, S. E. (2016). Harm reduction for young
people who use prescription opioids extra-medically: Obstacles and opportunities.
The International journal on drug policy, 31, 25–31.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2016.01.022
New York State Department of Health. (2019). New York State - County Opioid Quarterly
Report. New York: New York State Department of Health.
Ritchie, P. (2019, February 19). Saving Our Communities from Opioid Addiction. Retrieved
from Oswego County Today: https://oswegocountytoday.com/saving-our-
communities-from-opioid-addiction/opinion/ritchie-opinion/
Stancliff, S. (2019, August). Harm Reduction Approach to Treatment of All Substance Use
Disorders. Retrieved from New York State Department of Health AIDS
Institute: https://www.hivguidelines.org/substance-use/harm-reduction/
Volkow, N. D. (2014, May 14). America's Addiction to Opioids: Heroin and Prescription Drug
Abuse. Retrieved from National Institute on Drug Abuse:
https://archives.drugabuse.gov/testimonies/2014/americas-
addiction-to- Opioids-heroin-prescription-drug-abuse
Words Matter: How Language Choice Can Reduce Stigma. (2017). SAMHSA's Center for the
Application of Prevention Technologies, 1–6. Retrieved from
http://www.samhsa.gov/
APPENDIX A:
Diane: I guess it's some interplay between programs we did here, what we saw happening
in the community and then just recently with the state saying “hey we had 25 grants, you
guys were number 26 on the list, but somebody opted out, here’s this money”
Dan: What was that second grant you mentioned?
Diane: The first grant we got through the state health department and it’s called OD2A
which is Overdose Data to Action. The second one we applied for is a national grant
through the national association of county and city health offices, NACHO for short. That is
an opioid grant as well and it is a mentorship grant. So we applied and we used a lot of our
work plan from our first grant where we are trying to develop linkages to care for pregnant
parenting women, increase access to naloxone, getting more physicians to prescribe them.
So what happened with that grant is we were matched with another county. Actually our
mentors, as we are the mentees, are in Virginia as they have been doing this for a little bit
longer and they have agreed to share what they have learned.
Anna: So what kind of stuff has this other county been mentoring you on?
Diane: Yeah, so actually we just had our first call with them yesterday (February 20). So
some of the things we talked about with them yesterday that they were going to send
because we wanted to up our referrals for those linkages to care. So they are going to share
with us some of the screening forms that they have developed, going to share some stuff
that they have around the stigma that they have developed. The other thing that we have
since done here, and again this is really June we started seeing the Hepatitis stuff until
where we are now, we’ve really squeezed in a lot. We’ve become what they call an OOPP, an
Opioid Overdose Prevention Program, where we’ll be out training on Narcan and
distributing Narcan on the community. So right now we have coordinated in this last year
and few months for trainings and over 100 people were trained. Probably from fall until
the end of the year, so we are trying to up that in the community.
Anna: So is that members of the public you are training or healthcare professionals?
Diane: Yeah, so it’s a variety, we’ve trained members of the public, we’ve partnered with
some volunteer fire companies to train their members and they will agree to host it. Their
members come and they open it to the public and their communities. Now, we have
coordinated with a trainer from state agency Oasis and now we will have our own trainers
and we will be able to get Narcan from the state for free to be able to distribute.
Anna: Is that along with one of the previous grants?
Diane: That kind of runs parallel with it because it really doesn’t cost us anything to do
that. But one of our work plan objectives is to increase access to Naloxone in the
community. We are looking to do a leave-behind program with the biggest ambulance
company. So, if they respond to an overdose, what they tell us is often once you administer
Narcan, they don’t want to be transported anywhere, they are refusing services. So this way
we can have the ambulance service do a little bit of education with either the person
themselves or somebody there and leave a Narcan kit. So in case you just used what you
had, here is something so you have it available and do a little education about harm
reduction strategies. But again, this has all been within not even a year so our heads are
spinning a little bit.
Anna: So are you the only department overseeing this?
Diane: Yeah, these grants are being run through the health department, we certainly have
other partners and organizations that we have reached out to. We have a federally qualified
health center and they are the only ones at the primary care level that are prescribing for
substance use, so they have four or five providers. They’ve invited us to be part of their
substance use disorder workgroup within their agency so they can give us feedback based
on what they are seeing with their patients, we can say this is what we are trying to do and
where do you see gaps and kind of work together on some of these projects.
Anna: And this is one family health center out of so many.
Diane: Out of the whole county, so far as for primary care, so they are called connects care
but they are federally qualified health centers. So they are probably one of the biggest
primary care providers. So they have offices in Pulaski, Oswego, Fulton, Mexico, maybe
Hannibal, so they have locations around. Up until recently, I’m not sure if it’s happening yet,
all the providers who do prescribe are in Pulaski which means if you are getting
prescriptions, you gotta get to those appointments in Pulaski which is often difficult. So I do
know that they are getting a provider that they are going to have in their Fulton office and
he just finished his waver, training program that you have to go through in order to
prescribe those medications. They can only manage a certain number of patients, so there
are some limitations which is why we are hoping part of what we’re looking to do is to do
outreach and some public health detailing with primary care providers to say “this is a
service that is needed in the communities and is something that you want training on.” We
know that every primary care provider in their practice probably has somebody or several
somebodies with opioid use disorders. Farnham Family Services is another big prescriber,
they are a daily dose program. So I think we talked about this a little bit before that so if
somebody is getting their medications through there, they have to go there every day.
Whereas through primary care they are more likely to get a prescription for 30 days, you
come back, we are going to do some blood tests, we’re going to make sure you are taking
your stuff and not selling it on the street and we are going to manage you that way. For
people that are working, or that want to work, it’s a little bit easier and it might take a little
bit of the stigma away from saying “I’m going to a drug treatment center every day and I’m
there every day and people know that I’m there every day.” Or, because I am over there,
doing some work over there, and I was telling a story before that when I first started going
a few months ago, there was a couple that was there with a baby in the infant carrier. Now
that little girl toddles around there like she owns the place. But those people are there
every day, so how much easier would their lives be if they did not have to go there every
day with a toddler in any type of weather in any type of way.
Anna: So it’s been a lot of working with some of the local health departments including
Farnham Family Services and the Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC)
Diane: Yes, FQHC if you ever hear that term. Basically what that is is most communities
have them and basically they are recognized by the government for providing services
without any qualifications in terms of income, so anybody can really go there and seek
treatment and we serve them. They do take private insurance, they take Medicaid,
Medicare, but if you had nothing, they would still work something out. For them doing that,
they get some enhanced rates. So my private provider may get reimbursed x amount of
dollars for something if they take Medicaid patients, maybe they get 20 dollars a visit being
an FQHC you would get maybe 25 dollars a visit, so there is a benefit for them to go through
the hoops. But they are the ones in our county that cover the whole county, as they provide
primary care, dental services and they are moving into some behavioral health services as
well.
Anna: So are you and Vera kind of the only ones who are heading this initiative?
Diane: So, I work within Health Education, she oversees all the nursing services so we kind
of collate on things like that. So within our department, it’s basically my health educators, I
have two health educators that I supervise and one that’s written into the grants. And she’s
doing a lot of the public health detailing or academic detailing about morphine to go out
and try to get herself trained and up to speed so she can knock on primary care providers
doors and say “hey there’s this cool program that will really help your patients and really
help the community, this is something you’ll want to get trained on.” So we also have a
nurse in our preventative services that does work in our maternal child health so she’s out
seeing new moms and babies with our healthy families program. She’s working kind of on
those linkage-to-care targeting parenting women with substance abuse disorder to say
“hey,” and you know she’s really invested. I think it was last summer on Labor Day, one of
her patients actually overdosed and died. She had a couple-month-old baby and she had
been visiting this family and she was devastated. You know she had probably just
discharged and said you know what if I saw something and said something like “hey maybe
we need to be in there a couple more visits.” So she’s made it her mission, I think it was
Labor Day weekend, and maybe four or six people overdosed and left six children without
mothers in one weekend. So again, sometimes it's off-limits like that really get people to
think “what’s going on here?” And that’s really what kind of pushed us, along with seeing
those numbers, like “boy everybody we’re admitting either has a history of substance use,
or their denying current use when they tested positive on the screens in hospitals and the
baby tests positive.” So, you know, it made us say “we really need to focus on this
population and say hey there’s help for you out there until you’re ready to quit.”
Anna: So what do you think are factors that are kind of contributing to the crisis within the
county? Is it accessibility? Why is this county so high?
Diane: I don’t know why this county is so high. I think we have a lot of things going on in
this county you know..we have a lot of generational poverty. My family has been on the
system and I’m going to be on the system. We have patients that often tell us they started
drugs early almost as part of trafficking, where it’s family members, parents, that are
providing them drugs, cause you know they’re selling their kids for sex so parents can get
drugs or money to pay rent. So I think a lot of it is poverty. We know with opioids, the
overprescribing of opioids, which I think was across the country. Here I know our hospital
is working on instituting in their facilities some guidelines, standardized prescribing

practices on opioids. They started with medical procedural units saying “if you do a knee
replacement, here what’s going to be the standard for what you prescribe for opioids.” So
we don’t have one physician that says we’ll give you 60 days worth and another will give
you a month. It’s always nine or ten days, a week. Dental practices is another big one. What
are you going to give for a tooth extraction? Root canal? Wisdom teeth? You don’t need a
month's supply of Oxy because you got your wisdom teeth out? My daughter refused. I was
like “dude seriously you took one drug study course in school. You’re not going to become
addicted, they’re going to give you like four pills.” She was just like “no, I don’t want them.”
She was so black and blue, but they prescribed her an extra-strength Motrin and they said
she could take Tylenol in between that. She said fine that’s what I’ll do, and she lived with a
big ice pack on her face.
Anna: So it was a lot of generational poverty and the culture of the patients within the
area?
Diane: Yeah, I think so.
Dan: Do you think this county is underreported? Do you think the crisis is worse than it’s
being reported? I’m just curious.
Diane: I think that would be hard to tell. I think we probably don’t have as many services
as other communities have. We’ve talked about it before, we have no inpatient beds at all in
our county. So if anybody wants to stay home, they have children, and you don’t want to go
away to a facility for 30 days, which is probably not long enough anyway, you can do
outpatient. And that’s the only thing we have, is outpatient services. So I think that
sometimes makes it a little more difficult. And again, up until recently when Farham started
doing their prescribing the last couple of years, you’d have to get to Syracuse if you wanted
to be on methadone or suboxone or something. And then, transportation is a huge barrier
in this community. You’d have to get people there daily again.
Anna: So how do you think the crisis has impacted Oswego County as a whole? Do you
think the issue kind of trickles into the other parts of the county?
Diane: I think we do. I think we see it again since we have really high childhood abuse and
neglect rates in the community. Again, most women that get pregnant in this community,
I’m not saying it’s a good thing or a bad thing, keep their babies. Our abortion rates are
extremely low because there is no access here. And most women choose to keep their
children. It’s money, it’s transportation. So we have a lot of single moms and family stress.
We do see babies that will go through withdrawal because mom was using during
pregnancy. And sometimes a little bit, even so, when they’re getting treatment. Those
babies are usually well better managed if mom is on a regular program with methadone or
suboxone or something like that than moms with no treatment. On the NYS Department of
Health’s website, they have what’s called an opioid data dashboard so you can compare
Oswego County to whatever county. I don’t know if you’ve looked at it. But you can see
some things are better than some things are definitely worse than. There’s something they
do put out there called the Opioid Burden within a county that takes into account
overdoses and hospitalization stats and so on. But that’s the data that was used to
determine that we would get that grant money. So once again we were 26th out of 62
counties. Based on those numbers, we’re definitely not the worst and we’re definitely not
the best. But there’s definitely room for improvement in a lot of areas. You can look at
prescribing practices and you can see how they started to improve. So, you know, those
steps are being taken.
Anna: So it’s been kind of a gradual like..looking into prescribing practices and looking into
resources available within the county?
Diane: Yes, We’re trying to fill some of those gaps for getting more services here. We’re
looking at a needle exchange program, which this county does not have. Which again, more
harm reduction but this is still a place to do outreach and create some services or linkage to
services potentially.
Anna: We talked about the basis of the anti-stigma campaign and kind of what the intent of
it is moving forward. Is it more so targeted towards bringing patients into using the
services, or speaking more with providers regarding dealing with the situation?
Diane: I think we’ve looked at it from a couple as far as the anti-stigma, some of it being
directed to the providers as far as treating people with compassion. Treating, trying to
make that move that substance abuse disorder is a disorder. It’s a chronic disease and can
we treat it more like a chronic disease than a moral failing? And again, I get it people get
burned out people get jaded. I see a baby twitching and screaming and nick you. I'm going
to be pissed too, to say it's selfish but when you really understand the disease and know
that mom needs that drug to function, you know? To feel well. Again it's often. We don’t do
it to people with other chronic diseases. We don’t say “Well, you know you lost your leg
because you couldn’t stop drinking soda and eating cake and stupid diabetic,” right? Well,
you know we don’t do it as much. So part of it I think is just trying to build the trauma and
form that compassionate care for folks with substance abuse disorder because we were
through a hepatitis A outbreak, hearing people that would walk out of the hospital because
they felt like they were being judged. Which doesn’t help anybody because now there is
someone untreated that we can’t follow that is out potentially infecting other people
because they’re not getting well themselves. I think part of it is reducing stigma among the
general population. Again, similar to supporting people with substance use disorder, again
doesn’t have to be condoning the behavior but understanding it’s a disease and we have to
keep people alive long enough to get them treatment. And I think some of it is making those
with substance use disorder, without those other two pieces we’re not going to have people
with substance use disorder feeling comfortable to access to those services or to feel like
they won’t be judged or to know that there are safe places for them to go seek services, to
go seek help. “I need needles,” “I need condoms,” “I’m sick I need healthcare,” “I’m
pregnant, what do I do?” So I think without those other two pieces to get people with
substance use disorder comfortable to seek the services they need. To maybe hopefully to
where they’re better managed.
Anna: So, after all the parts you’ve been working for, steps being taken, are there any
trends that you see kind of going forward? Like, with how either the situation is being dealt
with, and or where it’s looking to go at this point?
Diane: So, some of the trends I can see is, we met last month with our legislator, our health
committee and we got preliminary approval to move forward on needle exchange. Which,
this is probably our third attempt to do that, and it’s been shot down pretty quickly
previously. When I say preliminarily approved, it’s that they want the city of Oswego and
Fulton to sign on and say yeah, they agree to it as well. So we’re doing more work there.
Dan: So that would come from the mayor’s office?
Diane: Yeah, it would come from the mayor of Oswego and Fulton to say, “yeah let’s try it.”
I’m sure they’re hearing from their constituents about needle waste and other issues. And
again, representatives, multi-prong. In our presentation, we had the infection control nurse
from the hospital come and she brought some really graphic pictures because she was just
kind of like, “this got to work” and we were like, “Oh yeah.” Like, somebody that just had,
just thought it looked like a burn, but it was just an open wound on somebody’s forearm.
Dan: From using needles?
Diane: From using unclean needles, she would reuse her needles. Again, most people that
are using, don't want to hurt other people. So, she was afraid that other people would get
stuck with her needles so she used to stick it in the carpeting of her house and she would
pull it out of the carpeting when she went to use it. So when they kind of cultured this
wound they found cat feces and urine and all kinds of stuff. Just think, anybody, the cleanest
house you go into, think about what’s really in the carpeting. Again, being really concerned
others would get stuck and not want them to get poked or injured.
Anna: Yeah that would need to pass legislation
Diane: Yeah, so they were able to see it as this is what happened, this woman first signed
herself out very quickly AMA. Again, feeling like she wasn’t getting care or being treated
with compassion and left the hospital. But to see these wounds, I was just like, it struck me
how do you now decide you need this looked at?
Maggie: Like how long did it go on for?
Diane: So she was in the hospital for quite a few weeks on IV and antibiotics, they were
able to pull up what her bill was and what that would really cost our legislature as payers
portions of Medicaid things. And, even more so what the hospital took as a loss when you
have one community hospital in a community. They can’t afford to be losing tens of
thousands of dollars on some patients that walk in the door. So you’re able to kind of put
the human side to it, see really the ramifications. She had other pictures where abscesses in
your eyebrows or fingers or just different places where people will inject if they don’t have
clean equipment to use. So, they were like, “okay.” And we tried to push it too as far as, this
gives us another place to meet with this underserved population and another place to draw
them to for a variety of services whether it’s around sexually transmitted diseases, whether
it’s around getting health insurance, whether it’s about treatment, whether it’s about job
skills. I mean how do we get folks; people I meet in the treatment they don’t want anything
different than I do. I mean they love their kids, they want what’s best for their kids. One guy
was super excited to tell me he had a job, and he thought he would get his first paycheck
soon enough to buy his daughter a new outfit for when school started. They don’t want
anything different than what we want, it’s heartbreaking. I leave there like worried, you
know? And they can’t tell me, because I’ll come back and I’ll be like I know you can’t tell me
but like a blink or something is this person still doing okay or if you see them tell them I’m I
was asking about them. It’s heartbreaking.
Anna: Well, at least the legislature got passed
Diane: Yeah, so it looks that will move forward and AIDS community resources out of
Syracuse will come to deliver those services here. We’re part of their service area, so since
December, I think, they’ve been bringing their van up. We haven’t been offering needle
exchange but we’re just trying to get folks used to the van coming around. We’ve been
riding around with them doing Hepatitis A vaccines. So we send one of our nurses out with
them and try to get people to be vaccinated. I told them I was going to go out and look for
them because they were given 25 dollar Dunkin Donuts gift cards for folks that agreed to be
vaccinated. So, “sign me up, I’m coming to find you guys.” But you know it’s cold, wintery,
often our folks are kind of couch surfing and wander outside on the street a lot so we get
them something hot to warm up with, compassionate. It’s the least of probably what we
can do, but we’ve distributed gloves and hats and different things like that and condoms.
Anna: So that’s kind of like increasing the visibility
Diane: So kind of increasing the visibility, trying to create those relationships to say, “yeah,
they treated me like a human being,” That’s part of, with some of our grants looking at the
Narcan is putting some compassion kits together. Where maybe it’s a drawstring bag, with
another dose of Narcan, maybe a bottle of water, some granola bars, some personal care
items, just to say “I know you don’t want to come with us, but here take care of yourself.”
Again, it’s part of just treating people like people, beyond the diagnosis or stigma.
Anna: What do you think are some of the big obstacles holding you back from achieving
what you’re trying to achieve. I mean, we talked about what circumstances that are limiting
people, whatever that may be. Do you think it’s a resource-based issue or?
Diane: I think some of it can be resource-based, I think some of it is just the time we’re
starting to build some of those linkages with other agencies. And I think there’s a lot of
partners working who are new to this game of substance use so it’s trying to bring in
maybe partners who haven’t worked together on a lot. We have one OBGYN office in the
county we would like to think we have a good relationship with, they let us in the door
often to talk about issues but getting some changes to occur can be slow. I mean any time
you’re trying to put in a new practice, how does it work in the flow of what’s happening so
some of it is just the time to make those contacts and say “Hey, what are you doing now for
a woman that comes in with substance abuse? Do you screen every woman that comes in?”
Because we know at the hospital they’re not testing every woman for substance use so how
do we better screen for substance use disorder? Again, it’s not so much the “haha we
caught you” but “hey how can we help you?” kind of thing that I think we gotta get that
mindset more so than you’re bad, you’re not taking your child home from the hospital with
you, why can’t you stop using it?
Anna: We’ve had discussions as to how to help people in the county. And given that this is
the health department, that comes in the form of people walking through the door. Could
you foresee any other kind of communication with people beyond those that physically
walk in? Are there any partnerships
Diane: Yeah we do a lot of partnerships. We are a part of the Prevention Coalition herewith
is a huge task force on drug-free living within the community. We have a rural health
network which has a really wide net. So any materials we may develop we could kind of vet
thru them since they have been in the business longer than we have. So if they say “Yeah
this great”, then we’ll give it out. So we have lots of folks that we could give information to,
more so than just the people we see. Cause really we don’t see many people walk through
the door saying “We need help for treatment” It's funny what they do decide to call us or
walk in the door about. But when we know we certainly have a presence in the community,
I was just running some numbers and some of our events, specifically our health education
events have over 20000 people we felt we reached between tabling, education programs,
and training. We do have reach within the community we are really good at collaboration
within this community, pulling non-traditional partners. Our big drill we have next week,
part of our job as the health department is responding to public health emergencies. You
think about what’s going on with Coronavirus, that hits here hard and there’s a vaccine,
how do you get that vaccine out to everyone? Part of our job is making sure that healthcare
providers have the resources they need, so our big drill next week, our unconventional
partner is the Girl Scouts. We’ll move 30000 boxes of girl scout cookies next Wednesday.
We’ll take them in, pretend they’re assets, split them up, and then the girl scout troupes
represent the healthcare facilities we have, which we have an order per troupe so we break
it down. So we’re really good, we’re nationally recognized for that program. So I think that
can happen around any issue. We’ve done it for smoking prevention, we’ve done it for
pregnant women. We are really successful in thinking outside the box, trying things out. A
lot of it is that we’re still training ourselves in this field of substance use disorders, so it’s
like we hurry up and figure this out so we can go out and help other people
Anna: It’s like your current job right now is communicating that to healthcare providers
and communicating that not only is there a new program that is being put into place but
there is a dialect that you have to use and there is a specific way you need to speak about
these issues.
Diane: Right, yeah. And it’s really that people-first language and trying to reduce a lot of
that kind of stigma.
Anna: So lastly, we’re in the research phase of all of this right now, is there any information
you would like to see connected by us?
Diane: Interesting. I don’t know. Have you reached out or are you going to reach out
Farman at all?
Anna: We’ve been making calls.
Diane: Are they not getting back to you?
Anna: I’ve been getting a lot of voicemails this past week. It’s been fun.
Diane: Yeah and I don’t know if it’s because all of the schools are off this week so I don’t
know if their staff are off. But if you do reach out to Farman and if they are able to share
some of their data, that would be good. It might be another thing too to look at local
pharmacies and NCAP programs, which are Narcan access programs that people can use
insurance for or the state will cover copays for Narcan. Is that program currently being
used in this county as that may be something we can push people towards. At least if they
aren’t going to come to one of our programs to be trained to use a kit, we can at least push
them in their direction.
APPENDIX B:
Dan: Hello, my name is Dan Donovan and I am a Public Relations major collaborating with
the Oswego County Health Department. Our PR team consisting of me, Anna Chichester,
Emily Ziemba, Maggie Ragotzkie, Kerri Shea, and myself, have been conducting research to
understand the stigmas against individuals with substance abuse disorder. Our client
recognizes the severity of the opioid crisis given they received a grant to address the issue
back in October of 2019. Our goal is to assist the department in their efforts to better
educate medical professionals and alter the ways in which they communicate with patients.
So my first question is what is your name and what is your official title within your office?
Sandra Waldren: Right, so my name is Sandra Waldren and I’m the director of operations
and the corporate compliance officer with Farham Family Services.
DD: Can you describe the role you play in working with patients?
SW: Absolutely, so I actually started at Farham as a clinician, so I am a licensed clinician
and I have that direct experience. Then I transitioned from a clinician into our prevention
services director role where our role and goal was to prevent substance use before it
started working with children from age five all the way up to 21. Then in January, I
transitioned into the director of operations and the corporate compliance officer, so a
variety of roles within the agency from direct practice to program and administrative
management.
DD: How long have you been working with patients?
SW: So I graduated from Oswego State in 1999 and then graduated from Syracuse
University with my masters in social work in 2001. So during my undergrad degree at
Oswego State, I started to work with individuals who were more struggling with mental
health disorders, children and families who were going through the child welfare system.
Then as I developed into my master’s program, I really became introduced to adults who
were struggling with mental health and substance use disorders. From there, so since 2001,
I’ve worked in a variety of clinics, working with both adults and children struggling with
the substance use disorder.
DD: So roughly 19 years?
SW: Yeah
DD: What do you know about the opioid crisis that exists within Oswego County?
SW: Yes, so one of the things that I really value about our agency here at Farham and with
our partnership with Coco corporation is that we recognize that there is an issue within our
community that we are seeing that while we are able to save lives and train individuals in
Narcan and provide treatment and recovery services, the epidemic hasn’t slowed down, we
are still seeing individuals coming and our census continues to rise. But the positive news is
that people are self-referring, so they are coming in on their own versus mandated clients
which we used to see years and years ago, where someone was motivated externally to
come into services. Maybe by probation, by parole but I mean now individuals are saying ‘I
have an issue that I really want to address’ so its significantly different so we are seeing a
change in that.
DD: How would you describe the current stigma against opioid users?
SW: Yes, so one of the things that I recognized in coming into the field as an administrator
was that there was lots of different things that people think about in relation to someone
who is struggling with a substance use disorder. There was lots of empathy towards
someone who maybe has diabetes, or maybe they have cancer, or maybe they have another
physical illness, but when somebody has a substance use disorder, there seemed to be what
appeared to be a lack of empathy and understanding that nobody chooses to become
addicted to a substance. Many of the individuals that we served started using as an
adolescent with some experimenting or maybe they were an adult and were prescribed a
medication legally by their doctor. They might have had a sports injury or a car accident
and were legitimately hard-working people in our community and what I recognized was
that even though substance use didn’t discriminate, those around people with substance
use disorder discriminated. What I found was that people were apprehensive about coming
to treatment feeling shameful about coming to treatment, feeling or expecting to be treated
different or less than because they had a substance use disorder and that really prevented
people from being able to come and get the treatment they needed and that was really
surprising in this day and age that still existed, but it does. So one of the things that we did
at Farham was to really build up our peer advocate program and that program I feel is one
of our biggest areas that we have to try and prevent stigma in our community along with
our prevention programing because that program has individuals who have been through
recovery and have overcome (stigma) and that they are able to assist people in a way that
therapists can’t. So it’s that acceptance that ‘I’ve been there’ it’s that ‘I’ve gotten this and I
can help you and everybody’s path is different’ and we’ve recognized that we need to shift
standardized treatment into personalized treatment to make sure that we are meeting
everybody’s needs to avoid stigmatizing treatment too.
DD: What do you believe contributes to someone’s bias against opioid users?
SW: One of the things I have found from hearing individuals speak, I have gone out into the
community a lot and done tabling events and community events, is it is their choice, the
idea that they could stop if they want to and when you try to explain that if you’re hungry
your body is telling you by your stomach growling, you’re hungry, you feel weak, you’re
having physical symptoms if you don’t eat, if you overeat you don’t feel well. Substance use
disorder is very much the same, you have your cravings, you don’t feel well unless you have
the medicine and so I think that the lack of understanding is one of the biggest components.
DD: I know that the Health Department told us that if you are a diabetic you don’t say “oh
stop eating candy or else you aren’t going to get any more treatment because you knew
better” that’s not how it works.
SW: Right! Exactly!
DD: So what do you believe is the biggest challenge you face when working with these
opioid abuse patients?
SW: Acceptance, like I said, even today having individuals in our community wrap around
people who need help instead of saying ‘ok I recognize that I need help, like ok, not here,
not next to me, not in my neighborhood’ and so that’s still an issue.
DD: How do you believe stigma and language influences people suffering from addiction?
SW: So one of the things that I know like we talked about is the difference between the fault
and the empathy. So if we associate a disease or a disorder with ‘it’s not your fault’ you
have more compassion and empathy towards that person versus the idea that stigmatizing
language that ‘you did this to yourself, it’s your fault’ so I think that a part of that would be
to help develop more empathy and more of an understanding so that people recognize that
it’s not somebody’s fault. I always tell people when I’ve worked with clients and they pick
up their first drink to 20 years later where they might be struggling they never said ‘oh this
is where I wanted to be, this was my goal’ so it’s nobody’s end goal, to be struggling with a
disorder and to help people understand and feel empathy for others who are suffering.
DD: Have patients brought up any specific stigmatized language that they have
experienced?
SW: Yes, definitely. Addict, junkie, you people, people like you and you can’t, you won’t,
you’ll never and even within their families and even you’ll always, you’re a thief, you’re a
liar, you’re a lawbreaker, all these stigmatizing, stereotypical assumptions about somebody
who might be struggling with an addiction so they definitely share and they feel devalued
and demoralized and not valued in their own community. Even when you overcome this
and you have a felony on your record when trying to get a job. Even though they say that
they can’t discriminate they’ll say ‘thank you very much we’ll be in touch’ and then they
never get in touch. In fact, the experience where people feel like they are trying to
overcome their past and they believe that they just can’t.
DD: So what is your willingness to change the way in which you communicate with your
patients who suffer from substance abuse disorder.
SW: Like I have said many times, it’s the empathy piece and letting them know that while
we can’t change everybody, if we change one opinion in one day with one person that is
eventually going to spread and I think that is the way, just the opposite where stigma
spreads that way so can change and hope and education and understanding and that giving
people the power to feel empowered to be validated in their recovery path and it’s not their
fault.
DD: So do you have any final thoughts or comments on this whole project we are doing or
on anything I have asked?
SW: Yeah, I think that one of the things we have recognized is the other stigmatizing piece
to it is that the medication assisted treatment that where like you were saying if someone is
diabetic they will get their insulin and if someone is struggling with an opioid use disorder
they’ll get medication for it and MAT is Medicated Assisted Treatment, so it’s not like you’re
just getting a medication and a lot of people say you’re replacing one drug with another, but
it’s part of your recovery and your treatment process so I think more education is
important and so doing studies is really going to help people understand what the root
causes are, how do we prevent. I’ve had clients ask me why is my best buddy and I we both
had the same drinking pattern in high school and then they were able to graduate and
overcome while I’m stuck, why? So, what is the genetic makeup of that, what physical
contributions does your physical body have that somebody else’s doesn’t as to why. So for
me, the more education, the more direct conversations, the conversations the people can
have in an empathetic way I think it’s going to break down the stigma, so I think this project
is great which is why I really wanted to take time out to meet with you guys.
DD: Yes, thank you for taking the time out of your day to meet with us.
APPENDIX C
APPENDIX D
OCHD Survivor Luncheon

Drafted by Anna Chichester
This proposed event outline is intended to conduct an event

that not only socializes people in the healthcare industry
based on a common cause, but also to add a personal component to their understanding of the
opioid crisis. The idea of the event is that it would kick off with the provision of a catered lunch,
and then the second half would include an opening statement with the leader of the campaign
and a moderated discussion and talkback with survivors of opioid addiction. All following dates
and recommendations are flexible to the preparer’s modifications.
Projected Date: Thursday September 10th, 2020

Setup Time: 12am
Event Start: 2pm
Event End: 4pm
Necessary Properties:
 Speaker System
 4 Handheld Microphones
 4 Chairs set up for talkback
 Elevated surface for staging
 Dining room/catering space
https://www.micreviews.com/how-tos/setting-up-a-wireless-microphone-system
Recommended Daily Timeline

10:30am - Event Coordinators arrive on site to open location
11am - Setup crew arrives to arrange tables and begin assembling decorations
12pm - Catering arrives and begins loading in food
1pm - AV setup begins
2pm - Event Starts
2:15 Food is served
2:45 Food is cleared,

2:50 Health Dept. Rep takes microphone and introduces initiative and guest speakers
3 - Moderated discussion begins
3:30 - Q&A begins
4pm - Q&A wrap up and event closes
4-5pm People file out and event cleanup
Recommended Timeline
6-12 Months Out
Assemble task committee and establish meeting times and general outreach capabilities
Develop budget for event
Develop system for RSVP

Recommended: Eventbrite
Discuss perspective invitations
Begin soliciting interest in speakers
Contact venues and reserve space for event if outsourcing is necessary
5 Months Out
Confirm all design and decorations for space
Start reviewing sources to rent or borrow audio equipment
Contact potential caterers and discuss event, projected attendance, and date
Have venue confirmed
Assess need for volunteers and begin contacting potential volunteers
3 Months Out
Have Caterer confirmed
Have Speakers Confirmed
Order gifts for speakers
Contact Press Representatives regarding Date
Send “Save The Date” notifications to department invitees and ask for mailing list
2 Months Out
Send invitations to all prospective attendees
Send notice of event to local press
Confirm AV equiptment
Appoint moderator
Appoint event photographer
Conduct follow up on site review to confirm placements of stations
1 Month Out
Finalize needed materials
Finalize agenda of event
Solidify catering choices
RSVPs due 2 weeks out
Call all panel participants, discuss content of talk and any needs of theirs
2 Weeks out, contact caterer with finalized numbers

Distribute schedule of event to all participating parties
Day Of
Arrive at location(s) early to check setups and be prepared to trouble shoot
Bring registration materials: guest lists, name badges, place cards, gifts, etc.
Review planning details and walk through the event with all staff and volunteers
Inform staff and volunteers of the location of restrooms, elevators, and accessible entrances
Be sure to have extra copies of all materials: schedule of events, agendas, cue sheets,
photographer instructions, media releases, etc.
Check in with caterer and provide them with any last minute changes or special meal
requests
Post Event
Follow up with all guests regarding their experiences
Post pictures from day of on social media channels
Send thank yous
File all materials to assist with planning of future event(s)

 Actual budget numbers
 Receipts and invoices
 Event planning notes (timeline included)
 All event related emails (electronically on CD)
 Debrief notes
 AV and space set-up orders and diagrams
 Written correspondence
 Event handouts
 Samples of ALL printed materials

 Sample mailings
 PR materials/newspaper articles mentioning the event
 Photographs
 Cue sheets
 Schedule of events
 Timeline
 Catering order
 Accept/Regret/Pending lists
 Seating list and chart
APPENDIX E
Social Media Release and Graphics Information
APPENDIX F
Stigma Advertisement
APPENDIX G
Intervention Workshop
Date: Saturday, June 13th, 2020

To: Patients who struggle with substance abuse
From: The Oswego County Health Department
We invite you to an intervention workshop that focuses on positive language and stigma.
Please join us at the Oswego County Health Department on Saturday, June 13th, 2020. We will
have professionals present with extended information to help ensure a positive and clean
lifestyle. Any questions can be brought to professionals as the workshop serves as a safe place.
This event allows other patients to talk with one another and share their personal experiences.
We will discuss rehab and treatment options for outpatient services. The purpose of this
intervention is to discuss effective and promising approaches to help combat the negative trends
of those who struggle with substance abuse.
RSVP Saturday, June 6th, 2020 at 4 pm, we hope to see you at our event!
APPENDIX H
Save the Date

APPENDIX I
Transit Advertisement
APPENDIX J
Opioid Use Brochure
APPENDIX K
WORDS MATTER 5K EVENT OUTLINE

Date: Saturday, September 12th, 2020
Rain Date: Saturday, September 19th, 2020
Race begins: Promptly at 8:30 am
Registration
 Early Registration (Until August 10th)- $25
 Registration (After August 10th)- $30
 Registration can be done online or at the event
 Online Service: https://www.raceentry.com/comparison-of-online-registration-systems
 Each registration fee includes a “Words Matter 5K Race” t-shirt and bib number
Cause
 This race is to raise awareness about the harmful impacts of stigma language against
opioids
 A majority of the proceeds will go to the Oswego County Health Department to help aid
those living with opioid use (to further fund programming, provide supplies for those
struggling with opioids, increase transportation for patients to receive treatment) the rest
of proceeds will go to paying the town permits and event supplies
The Course
 Begins and ends at Brietbeck Park and goes throughout the town with closed streets
 Course will be blocked off by Police barricades to ensure safety
 The entire town will be notified of closures due to the race weeks leading up to the event
by Oswego County Facebook, fliers throughout town, and signs by the park
 Road Closure Permit- $150
Awards
 Awards will be given to the top three overall male and female 5K finishers, plus the top
three male and female 5K finishers in their age group.
 Awards will be announced at 9:45 am
Brietbeck Regulations
 Must apply for the event no more than 365 days prior to the event and no less than 60
days before
 Road Closure Permit- $150 per area
 Breitbeck Park Pavillion- $75
 Event organizers shall not advertise for proposed events until the Special Event
Application has been approved by the Special Events Committee unless the Special
Events Committee has provided conditional approval for such advertising.
 All Regulations, bylaws, and legislation must be adhered to by the event organizer. The
event organizer is required to provide the evidence, if asked, of all the necessary
licenses/permits required to operate the event.
 The event organizers must adhere to all special event policies and procedures.
 It is strongly recommended that the event organizers provide certified first aid service on-
site during the operating hours of the event for events with 500+ attendees.
 Event organizers shall make their event reasonably accessible to all.
 A pre-event meeting may be scheduled with the event organizers or members of the event
and City staff to go through site specifics.
 The City of Oswego may attach such terms and conditions to a permit as deemed
necessary to ensure public safety, protect City property or maintain the enjoyment of the
park(s), marina and road(s) for the public.
 Event organizers must observe all by-laws, rules, and regulations on the City of Oswego
properties.
 The cost of any damage to the park and/or facilities, as well as missing barricades, will
be borne by the event organizer
Volunteers
 Event will require volunteers to set up/clean up, check-in participants, hand out water,
time the race/mark times, etc.
 Event will recruit volunteers from Oswego County Health Department, Farnham
Services, Oswego citizens/students (in seek of community service credit)
Sponsorship
 Reach out to local businesses to contribute to the event in exchange for the advertisement
of their organization/business
 Ask local business for items like gift cards, products, food, etc. for raffles
 If companies agree in advance they can be featured on the back of the t-shirts
 Will reach out to local restaurants to include coffee fruit etc.
 If we reach enough sponsors who are willing to donate items we can create a goody bag
for each winner featuring community items
 Possible Sponsors: Cam’s, Fajita Grill, Canale’s, Paul Big M’s, Oswego YCMA,
SubShop, etc.
Safety
 EMT will be on-site in case of emergencies (Injury, dehydration, etc.)
 Cops will be on-site to assist with traffic and safety (number will be determined based on
departments overview event- stated in Breitbeck Event Handbook
 Barricades specifically to guide participants
 Police placed on-site to guide traffic and help with security
Parking
 Participants, volunteers, and event watchers will be encouraged to park in the Brietbeck
parking lot, and neighboring streets (basically HarborFest parking)
 Possible volunteers
Print Material
 Signs, banners, and fliers will be designed for advertisement throughout town
 Banner posted at the entrance of the race
 Print signs posted at each half-mile of the race so that participants can track their progress
throughout the race
 Arrow signs specifying where to go for registration, first aid, starting line, raffles,
bathrooms, etc.
Additional Items for Purchase
 Additional Words Matter T-Shirts $15

 Words Matter Buttons $2
 Words Matter Stickers $2
 Words Matter Bracelets $5
Needed Supplies/Additional Costs
 Safety pins
 Bib numbers
 Portable Toilets
 Sound System
 Zip ties
 Folding tables
 Folding chairs
 Tents
 Recycling/Trash bins
 Coolers
 Cups
 Awards (can be medals or certificates)
Race Day Proposed Schedule
 Setup: 7 am
 Participants encouraged to arrive: 8 am
 Run/Walk kickoff: 8:30
 Words from those who overcame opioid use: 9:30
 Awards: 9:45
 Cleanup and out by 11 am/ 12 pm
Breitbeck Special Event Handbook
https://www.oswegony.org/government/special-events-guide-and-application?
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kQsRLgXFjBfOtpNdE6VSGQ7y1ZrWmhLykqTCHcswVtemhhA98DRNxun3KlnvBr1h8
WgEl6EqWUvvon9a01gjbXdsZ94UUtECoz9QRpB6D1NGbw5pG1lE4lmG0xPPRg5LNO
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TdaAJC2fV4yZUeviv7Q
APPENDIX L
T-SHIRT PROMOTIONAL DESIGN
APPENDIX M
Fact Sheet
APPENDIX N
Press Release
Emily Ziemba
Oswego County Health Department
716-698-6499
emilyziemba14@yahoo.com
Oswego County Health Department Combats Substance Abuse Disorder
Oswego, NY: Today, the Oswego County Health Department (OCHD) announced their new
effort to combat the current Opioid epidemic facing counties across New York State. The OCHD
will be hosting “Words Matter Week” from September 6 , 2020 until September 12 , 2020. This
th th
week will consist of various events with the goal of educating the general public, and healthcare
professionals, about the stigma surrounding opioid abuse disorder.
Oswego County ranks 26 in the state for most opioid overdoses. According to the New York
th
State Department of Health, “In 2016, Oswego County had 19.6 deaths per 100,000 members of
the population due to opioid overdose, while the New York State average was 15.0 deaths per
100,000.” In response to these statistics, Oswego County received a $1.5 million grant from the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that would be used to combat the
effects of substance abuse disorder. The department aims to spend this money on practices that
educate audiences on how to be a supportive ally to those in need of medical help.
In order to encourage public participation and education, the health department will be:
 Hosting seminars discussing the community standing and impact of medical professionals
on patient’s mental health
 Managing a luncheon with a substance abuse disorder survivor
 Facilitating a 5k fundraiser to collect funds for support services and healthcare providers
 Distributing t-shirts, buttons, and stickers to volunteers and participants
 Tabling at the local Farmer’s Market and distributing pamphlets highlighting the current
epidemic and how language use perpetuates stigma towards those who suffer
 Promoting resources available to those in need of help on the departments various social
media accounts
About the OCHD: The OCHD offers few resources as of lately to patients suffering with
addiction. There are outpatient services available, however no inpatient. The department aims to
raise awareness of the resources they do have, and potentially raise money to invest in new
opportunities for help and training. The department has already implemented training sessions
about harm reduction and person centered language in an effort to change the ways in which
substance abuse disorder to discussed and thought about.
APPENDIX O
Social Media Calendar
APPENDIX P

Learn How to Better Communicate with Patients

Avoid Negative Words

Help Patients Help Themselves

Try to Make Their Day Just a Little Bit
Brighter

Come join the cause at our Words Training Session

Every Wednesday from 4-5 PM

70 Bunner St, Oswego, NY, 13126
APPENDIX Q
Outline Talking Points and Activities for Words Training

Share patent stories of what negative stigmatized language does to them
Mention people relapsing
Mention the mental trauma people go through

Avoid the use of negative words
Junkie, You People, Crack Head etc.

Introduce substitute words and phrases to use

Talk about how people never choose to become addicted to opioids

Treat patients like they have a disease, not like they are a bad person

Smile and be friendly

Show the patients that you care


Implement practical practice to see what the people have learned
One person plays the Opioid addict while the other is the doctor
Alternate between the two so people can play both parts
APPENDIX R

Media Advisory
For Release Sept. 2, 2020
Contact
Diane Oldenburg
Diane.oldenburg@oswegocounty.com
Words Matter Awareness Class on Opioid Abuse

WHO: Any person is welcome to come to this class. We strongly recommend medical
professionals who deal with individuals suffering from Opioid Abuse Disorder attend.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 9, 2020

4:00-7:00 PM
WHERE: Oswego County Health Department

70 Bunner Street
Oswego, NY, 13126
WHAT: The Oswego County Health Department is hosting a Words Matter awareness class in
order to educate individuals on the stigmas associated with Opioid Abuse Disorder. This class’s
intention is also to show what negative words can do to a person who is suffering from or
attempting to recover from Opioid Abuse Disorder.
WHY: There is a lot of negative stigmas associated with Opioid Abuse Disorder and the people
who suffer from it. Some individuals have a difficult time and cannot overcome what is said to
them by both the general public and medical professionals. The Oswego County Health
Department wants to change that stigma and the words associated with the disease. Therefore,
they are hosting this class and the Words Matter week to inform all parties involved.
About Words Matter Week: This is a new program which will be implemented this year and
expects to be continued annually. This week is dedicated to changing the stigma surrounding
individuals with Opioid Abuse Disorder. The more the negative stigmas are talked about and
discussed in the mainstream media, those negative stigmas will begin to disappear and change
APPENDIX S
Flyer
APPENDIX T
Community Update

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OSWEGO HEALTH DEPARTMENT STIGMA CAMPAIGN 1

OSWEGO COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………………….………………………. 2

Public Perception ……………………………………………………………………………….…………. 5

Situation Analysis …………………………………………………………………….…………...………. 6

SWOT Analysis ………………………………………………………………………………………………..9

Audience Research ……………………………...………………………………………………………………… 10

Goals and Objectives …………………………….……………………………………………..………………… 12

Strategies and Tactics………………………………………………………………………………….…………. 13

Works Cited …………………………………………………………………………………… 16

GOALS & OBJECTIVES

STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

 Implement periodic mandatory training sessions and meetings that discuss

 Distribute a research report to practitioners within the county discussing

 Promote services during tabling at the Oswego Farmer’s Market

SURVIVOR LUNCHEON OUTLINE (APPENDIX D)

SOCIAL MEDIA RELEASE PICTURE CONTENT (APPENDIX E)

STIGMA ADVERTISEMENT (APPENDIX F)

INTERVENTION WORKSHOP OUTLINE (APPENDIX G)

SAVE THE DATE (APPENDIX H)

TRANSIT ADVERTISEMENT (APPENDIX I)

OPIOID USE BROCHURE (APPENDIX J)

WORDS MATTER 5K OUTLINE (APPENDIX K)

PROMOTIONAL SHIRT DESIGN (APPENDIX L)

FACT SHEET (APPENDIX M)

PRESS RELEASE (APPENDIX N)

SOCIAL MEDIA CALENDAR (APPENDIX O)

CAMPAIGN FLYER (APPENDIX P)

MEDIA ADVISORY (APPENDIX R)

An organizational tactic intent to

COMMUNITY UPDATE (APPENDIX T)

is working on instituting in their facilities some guidelines, standardized prescribing

OCHD Survivor Luncheon

This proposed event outline is intended to conduct an event

Projected Date: Thursday September 10th, 2020

Recommended Daily Timeline

2:45 Food is cleared,

6-12 Months Out

Develop budget for event

Develop system for RSVP

Discuss perspective invitations

Begin soliciting interest in speakers

Contact venues and reserve space for event if outsourcing is necessary

Confirm all design and decorations for space

Start reviewing sources to rent or borrow audio equipment

Have venue confirmed

Assess need for volunteers and begin contacting potential volunteers

Have Caterer confirmed

Have Speakers Confirmed

Order gifts for speakers

Contact Press Representatives regarding Date

Send invitations to all prospective attendees

Send notice of event to local press

Appoint event photographer

Conduct follow up on site review to confirm placements of stations

Finalize needed materials

Finalize agenda of event