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Even though it was published 10 years ago, NCETA’s Health Professionals’ Attitudes Towards Licit and Illicit Drug Usersis one of the few Australian or international resources available to address AOD-related stigma. When it was first published it was designed to assist GPs and nurses explore and evaluate attitudes towards drug users and particularly perceptions about a client’s or patient’s deservingness of medical care.

Since its initial publication, the resource’s Attitude Measurement: Brief Scales continues to be utilised and adapted in numerous healthcare settings in a variety of countries. In particular, there has been considerable interest from researchers and health providers in both Canada and the United States.

For example, NCETA recently was recently contacted by the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology/Stanford University Doctor of Psychology Consortium about using the Attitude Measurement: Brief Scales in a study aimed at changing provider attitudes and stigma in inpatient psychiatric settings towards people with AOD-related issues.

The resource has also been used for a number of years by the Vermont Oxford Network to address health care professionals’ attitudes towards female drug users and to improve neonatal intensive care outcomes.

In addition, the Brief Scales have been used by the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire as one of their measures of healthcare provider attitude change with a view to improving the interaction between patients and maternity care providers.