Safeguarding Lived and Living Experience in Public Discourse
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The Lived Experience Safeguard Guide and Scale, were created to address the need to better protect individuals with lived experience in public disclosure. In a world where personal stories of recovery and substance use disorder can provide invaluable authenticity and depth to projects, campaigns, and articles, it's essential that we handle these narratives with care. When shared appropriately, these stories can build empathy, heal wounds and bridge the gap between knowledge and action. Yet, when stewarded inappropriately in the digital age, these narratives of lived and living experience can intensify stigma, misrepresentation and harm, commodifying and tokenizing the very individuals that these stories are about.
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The guide and corresponding scale provide a practical approach for better protecting individuals with substance use disorder in public disclosures. They prioritize equitable decision-making and stress the importance of respectful treatment, empowerment, and genuine representation. This ensures an accurate portrayal of individuals' addiction journeys. The guide advocates for an affirmative orientation, promoting strengths-based content that focuses on change actions, treatment, and recovery. It also emphasizes the need for a continued focus on recovery, rather than sensationalizing disease progression to foster unity and highlight the human capacity for growth and positive change.
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Psychological safety is a crucial concern when sharing lived experiences. Public disclosure demands emotional vulnerability and can involve revisiting traumatic experiences. This puts individuals at risk of psychological harm and re-traumatization. Moreover, there are real risks such as termination or discrimination in employment, housing, and legal disputes like child custody cases or bias and social exclusion in various social scenarios.
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The guide delves into each of these topics in depth and is complimented by a self-evaluation tool for individual organizations to assess their current prioritization of safeguard measures, providing a framework for mitigating potential harms inherent to public disclosure of addiction and recovery stories. By adopting and adapting proposed strategies, we can work to create a more respectful and empowering approach to sharing stories of addiction and recovery that put the wellbeing of the individual sharing their lived experience at the forefront.
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Funding for this initiative was made possible by grant no. 1H79TI083022 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
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