An upcoming series of events from The University of Toledo Medical Center will focus on reducing the stigma of substance use disorders within the Black and Latino communities and highlighting area resources that can help those struggling with addiction.
The series begins Wednesday, July 26, with a discussion on substance use prevention and detection, as well as how to help those living with substance use disorders.
Moussa
Additional sessions will be held Aug. 9, 23 and 30. Each of the four events will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Frederick Douglass Community Center, which is partnering with UTMC to host the series.
All sessions are free and open to the public.
“Substance use disorder is a significant issue across all demographic groups, but it disproportionally impacts the minority community,” said Dr. Mohamad Moussa, an emergency medicine physician at The University of Toledo. “This is a very important topic and we need to do everything we can to address it.”
Moussa, also an associate professor of emergency medicine, is leading the outreach project, with help from medical students and faculty from the UToledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences.
“As an ER doctor I see so many catastrophes related to substance abuse,” he said. “I can help in the emergency room to a point, what we really want to do is to go out into the heart of the community and hopefully prevent some of these things from happening in the first place.”
The August sessions will focus on treatment resources, spotting substance use and risk factors in adolescents, and the effect of COVID-19 on behavioral health and substance use.
“We’re hoping attendees take away from this who they can reach out to, what resources are available and that it’s OK to identify this as a problem,” Moussa said. “It doesn’t have to be taboo to talk about this. It’s a problem that’s affecting all kinds of people. We want to get over the stigma of saying someone has a drug addiction or substance use addiction.”
Additional information is available on the UTMC website.
The events are supported by a $25,000 grant from the Ohio Commission on Minority Health.
