Suzan M Walter
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 240617 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Suzan M Walter |
| NOMBRES | Suzan M |
| APELLIDO | Walter |
| FIRMA | WALTER S M |
| AFILIACIONES | New York University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2975-2893 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 46 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 43 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 46 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2012 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 3 |
“Once You’re Labeled a Drug User, You Might as Well Stay the F*** Home”
BACKGROUND: Despite the growing relevance of rural areas in the overdose crisis, research on rural people who inject drugs and their experiences with law enforcement remains limited. This research examines how rural policing and stigma uniquely shape the lives of people who inject drugs. METHODS: Forty-one semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with people who inject drugs in southern Illinois. For this analysis, we focused on part…
Exploring the Roots of Stigma
The ongoing opioid crisis underscores the urgent need to understand and address stigma toward individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). Applying message framing theory, this study examines how different segments of the public conceptualize OUD. Through in-depth interviews with 26 U.S. adults, segmented by their OUD experiences (personal, family/friend, or none) and stigma scores (high or low), we explored the underlying reasons for stigmatizing…
HIV-Stigmatizing Beliefs and Attitudes as a Barrier to Early PrEP Care Continuum Engagement Among People Who Inject Drugs
HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective prevention strategy, yet awareness, knowledge, and willingness to use it among people who inject drugs (PWID) remains inadequate despite widespread eligibility. Stigma, particularly HIV-stigmatizing beliefs and attitudes, may be a key barrier to engagement at early stages of the PrEP care continuum. We examine how HIV-stigmatizing beliefs and attitudes affect PrEP awareness, knowledge, and…
Healthcare disparities and stress-driven substance use
Development and Validation of a Provider-Specific Anticipated Stigma Scale for People Who Inject Drugs
Stigma in healthcare settings is a critical barrier to HIV prevention and treatment among people who inject drugs (PWID). While previous tools have measured anticipated stigma, few account for the intersectional and provider-specific experiences of PWID-particularly from syringe service programs (SSPs). We developed and validated the Substance Use Anticipated Provider Stigma Scale (SU-APSS), a multidimensional instrument assessing anticipated sti…
Psychiatric Medication Treatment, Concurrent Substance Use, and Subsistence Difficulty Among People Who Inject Drugs with Diagnosed Mental Health Disorders in Los Angeles and Denver
BACKGROUND: Limited literature exists on how concurrent substance use and difficulty meeting basic needs impact recent psychiatric treatment among people who inject drugs (PWID) with diagnosed mental health disorders in the U.S. This study assessed the prevalence of taking current psychiatric medication treatment, and its association with concurrent substance use and subsistence difficulty. METHOD: Baseline data from a prospective cohort study in…
Pilot randomized controlled trial to reduce HIV-related stigma among clinicians in Malaysia via project Echo®
HIV-related stigma from clinicians contributes to global disparities in HIV testing and prevention. Scalable interventions, particularly those reaching clinicians beyond individual healthcare facilities, are needed to reach clinicians worldwide. These interventions are especially important in places like Malaysia where substantial HIV-related structural stigma exists. We tested an intervention that incorporated evidence-based stigma reduction too…
Strengthening HIV Activism Among Clinicians in Malaysia
HIV continues to disproportionately affect key populations in Malaysia, compared to the general population. Lessons learned from decades of research and programmatic experience suggest that HIV activism can be a driver for change. We pilot-tested a tele-training platform, Project ECHO ® for Stigma Reduction (PE-SR), in a randomised controlled trial from July 2022 to March 2023, alongside two comparator groups, i.e., Project ECHO ® -Standard (PE-S…
Prevalence and correlates of multiple injections per injection episode among people who inject drugs in rural U.S. communities
An Examination of How People Who Use Drugs Conceptualize the Benefits and Drawbacks of Using Overdose Prevention Centers
Background: In 2021, NYC implemented overdose prevention center (OPC) services at two existing syringe exchange programs, allowing people to use pre-obtained drugs on-site. Although OPCs in Canada, Western Europe, and Australia have demonstrated their feasibility and benefits towards reducing overdose risk and drug-related harm, there is less data on how people who use drugs (PWUD) conceptualize the benefits and any potential drawbacks of using O…
Dialectical Processes of Health Framework as an Alternative to Social Determinants of Health Framework
The social determinants of health (SDOH) framework has proven useful for research and practice in addressing the social causes of many health outcomes. However, its limitations may restrict its value as the world undergoes rapid ecological and social change. We argue that SDOH does not adequately incorporate rapidly changing or “far upstream” social processes (particularly social movements), the dialectics of social conflict and creative social i…
Stigma, Mental Health, and Health care Use Among Rural Sexual and Gender Minority Individuals
Sexual and gender minorities (SGM) frequently experience depression and health care-related stigma. Health care satisfaction is important for seeking care, but little is known about SGM health care satisfaction, and especially as it relates to depression among rural SGM. From May 25 to July 2, 2021, we surveyed rural Illinois (IL) individuals aged ≥18 years on the topics of demographics, depression, health care satisfaction, past health care expe…
HIV Activist Identity, Commitment, and Orientation Scale (Haicos)
Barriers to opioid use disorder treatment among people who use drugs in the rural United States
Challenges to Providing Integrated HIV Prevention in Substance Use Treatment Settings
INTRODUCTION: Substance use treatment settings can play a critical role in ending the HIV epidemic. Community-based methadone clinics are potentially useful sites to offer biomedical HIV prevention, but little is known about how clinicians and other clinic staff communicate with patients about sexual behavior and HIV-related topics. METHODS: Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted at two methadone clinics in Northern New Jersey. Particip…
A National Portrait of Public Attitudes toward Opioid Use in the US
Public health policies are most effective in addressing OUD. We suggest targeting interventions toward the "High Stigma/Mixed Public Health and Punitive Policy" group since this group already displays some support for public health policies. Broader interventions, such as eliminating stigmatizing messaging in the media and redacting punitive policies, could reduce OUD stigma among all groups
I Don’t Believe a Person Has to Die When Trying to Get High
People who inject drugs understood fentanyl to be a potential contaminant in their drug supply and actively engaged in harm reduction techniques to try to prevent overdose. Interventions to increase harm reduction education and information about and access to fentanyl test strips and naloxone would be beneficial
How the rural risk environment underpins hepatitis C risk
The rural risk environment framework acknowledges the importance of community and structural factors that influence HCV infection and other disease transmission and care. We find that larger structural factors produce vulnerabilities and reduce access to resources, which negatively impact hepatitis C disease outcomes
I am not a junkie”
I would do anything but that”
We identified several patterns by which people who use drugs evaluate community members who sell sex. These included gendered and morally-charged forms of stigma, which may represent barriers to community acceptance and support among this subgroup
Intersectional stigma as a fundamental cause of health disparities
Recent evidence points to racial and ethnic disparities in drug-related deaths and health conditions. Informed by stigma, intersectionality, intersectional stigma, and fundamental cause theories, we aimed to explore whether intersectional stigma was a fundamental cause of health. We document key events and policies over time and find that when progress is made new mechanisms emerge that negatively affect health outcomes for Black and Hispanic per…
Lessons from the First Wave of Covid-19 for Improved Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (Moud) Treatment
Background Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) are associated with important public health benefits. Program changes implemented in response to COVID-19 hold promise as ongoing strategies to improve MOUD treatment. Methods: MOUD patients on buprenorphine or methadone, providers, government regulators, and persons who use drugs not in MOUD were recruited in the Northeast region of the United States between June and October of 2020 via adver…
The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Drug Use Behaviors, Fentanyl Exposure, and Harm Reduction Service Support among People Who Use Drugs in Rural Settings
The COVID-19 pandemic period was characterized by changing drug availability, increased overdose risk, and other drug-related harms faced by people who use drugs in rural areas. Our findings emphasize the importance of ensuring access to harm reduction services, including overdose prevention and drug checking for this vulnerable population
I want the doctors to know that I am as bright as a candle”
Acceptability and Feasibility of Online, Asynchronous Photovoice with Key Populations and People Living with HIV
Stigmatize the use, not the user? Attitudes on opioid use, drug injection, treatment, and overdose prevention in rural communities
The stigma system
Stigma is a fundamental driver of adverse health outcomes. Although stigma is often studied at the individual level to focus on how stigma influences the mental and physical health of the stigmatized, considerable research has shown that stigma is multilevel and structural. This paper proposes a theoretical approach that synthesizes the literature on stigma with the literature on scapegoating and divide‐and‐rule as strategies that the wealthy and…
How urban and rural built environments influence the health attitudes and behaviors of people who use drugs
You're friends until everybody runs out of dope
Correlates of Transactional Sex and Violent Victimization among Men Who Inject Drugs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California
A Syndemic Model of Exchange Sex Among HIV-Positive Men Who Have Sex With Men
Exchange sex is a behavior associated with HIV transmission risk among men who have sex with men (MSM). Few studies have examined exchange sex among HIV-positive MSM. We utilize a syndemic framework to account for co-occurring psychosocial problems that suggest the presence of intertwining epidemics (i.e., syndemics), which have not been examined within the context of exchange sex among HIV-positive MSM. In 2015, MSM were recruited via online sex…
Intersectional stigma as a fundamental cause of health disparities
Recent evidence points to racial and ethnic disparities in drug-related deaths and health conditions. Informed by stigma, intersectionality, intersectional stigma, and fundamental cause theories, we aimed to explore whether intersectional stigma was a fundamental cause of health. We document key events and policies over time and find that when progress is made new mechanisms emerge that negatively affect health outcomes for Black and Hispanic per…
Barriers to opioid use disorder treatment among people who use drugs in the rural United States
I’m Going to Stop Myself Before Someone Stops Me”
Background: Often people assume that entry into drug treatment is a voluntary action for persons who use drugs (PWUD). This narrative informs the organizational and regulatory structure of most treatment programs and consequently affects patients' ability to exert agency over their own treatment. Yet, this view ignores the complex interplay between individual and structural factors in peoples' decision-making processes, particularly among people …
Sex trafficking
Siddharth Kara, New York, Columbia University Press, 2009, 320 pp., £11.95/US$ 16.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-231-13961-8, £16.95/US$ 24.95(clothback) ISBN 978-0-231-13960-1 Over a decade ago, the U
Awareness of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among women who inject drugs in NYC
BACKGROUND: Women who inject drugs (WWID) are at heightened risk for HIV due to biological, behavioral, and structural factors. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) could aid in HIV prevention for WWID. However, little is known about WWID awareness of PrEP, which is a necessary step that must occur before PrEP uptake. We report factors associated with greater awareness among WWID to identify efficient means of awareness dissemination. METHODS: Data fr…
Exchange Sex Among Persons Who Inject Drugs in the New York Metropolitan Area
“They look at us like junkies”
HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Prevention Awareness, Willingness, and Perceived Barriers among People Who Inject Drugs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA, 2016–2018
Background Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention is indicated for people who inject drugs (PWID), yet most studies do not focus on PWID. This study examines factors associated with PrEP awareness and willingness, and identifies perceived barriers to PrEP among PWID. Methods: PWID were interviewed in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA from 2016 to 2018. We analyzed data from self-reported HIV-negative participants who had injected drug…
Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Use Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Experiencing Partner Violence
A Pilot Study to Evaluate a Novel Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Peer Outreach and Navigation Intervention for Women at High Risk for HIV Infection
The role of syringe exchange programs and sexual identity in awareness of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for male persons who inject drugs
Breaching Trust
Background: Increased drug use has disproportionately impacted rural areas across the U.S. People who use drugs are at risk of overdose and other medical complications, including infectious diseases. Understanding barriers to healthcare access for this often stigmatized population is key to reducing morbidity and mortality, particularly in rural settings where resources may be limited. Methods: We conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with peop…
A Syndemic Model of Exchange Sex Among HIV-Positive Men Who Have Sex With Men
Exchange sex is a behavior associated with HIV transmission risk among men who have sex with men (MSM). Few studies have examined exchange sex among HIV-positive MSM. We utilize a syndemic framework to account for co-occurring psychosocial problems that suggest the presence of intertwining epidemics (i.e., syndemics), which have not been examined within the context of exchange sex among HIV-positive MSM. In 2015, MSM were recruited via online sex…
Acceptability and Effectiveness of Hepatitis C Care at Syringe Service Programs for People Who Inject Drugs in New York City
Introduction/Objectives: The incidence of hepatitis C (HCV) infection is rising among people who inject drugs (PWID). Even in the context of known HCV prevention and treatment strategies, some PWID remain unengaged in HCV care. This study aimed to identify and characterize experiences and perceptions of PWID regarding the acceptability and effectiveness of HCV testing and treatment at a local syringe service program (SSP). Methods: A total of 36 …
Covid‐19 During the Opioid Epidemic – Exacerbation of Stigma and Vulnerabilities
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented event in modern American history. It has the potential to impact nearly every American community significantly regardless of its size. As of this writing (1 PM CST; 31 March 2020), the United States has had 174,467 confirmed cases and 3,461 deaths associated with COVID-19.1 A majority of the states are in some form of “lockdown” to increase social isolation in order to flatten the infection curve and fore…
Considerations for the Design of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Interventions for Women
PrEP Care Continuum Engagement Among Persons Who Inject Drugs
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a medication that prevents HIV acquisition, yet PrEP uptake has been low among people who inject drugs. Stigma has been identified as a fundamental driver of population health and may be a significant barrier to PrEP care engagement among PWID. However, there has been limited research on how stigma operates in rural and urban settings in relation to PrEP. Using in-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews (n …
I’m Going to Stop Myself Before Someone Stops Me”
Background: Often people assume that entry into drug treatment is a voluntary action for persons who use drugs (PWUD). This narrative informs the organizational and regulatory structure of most treatment programs and consequently affects patients' ability to exert agency over their own treatment. Yet, this view ignores the complex interplay between individual and structural factors in peoples' decision-making processes, particularly among people …
How urban and rural built environments influence the health attitudes and behaviors of people who use drugs
Correlates of Transactional Sex and Violent Victimization among Men Who Inject Drugs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California
Stigmatize the use, not the user? Attitudes on opioid use, drug injection, treatment, and overdose prevention in rural communities
Lessons from the First Wave of Covid-19 for Improved Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (Moud) Treatment
Background Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) are associated with important public health benefits. Program changes implemented in response to COVID-19 hold promise as ongoing strategies to improve MOUD treatment. Methods: MOUD patients on buprenorphine or methadone, providers, government regulators, and persons who use drugs not in MOUD were recruited in the Northeast region of the United States between June and October of 2020 via adver…
The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Drug Use Behaviors, Fentanyl Exposure, and Harm Reduction Service Support among People Who Use Drugs in Rural Settings
The COVID-19 pandemic period was characterized by changing drug availability, increased overdose risk, and other drug-related harms faced by people who use drugs in rural areas. Our findings emphasize the importance of ensuring access to harm reduction services, including overdose prevention and drug checking for this vulnerable population
I want the doctors to know that I am as bright as a candle”
Acceptability and Feasibility of Online, Asynchronous Photovoice with Key Populations and People Living with HIV
The stigma system
Stigma is a fundamental driver of adverse health outcomes. Although stigma is often studied at the individual level to focus on how stigma influences the mental and physical health of the stigmatized, considerable research has shown that stigma is multilevel and structural. This paper proposes a theoretical approach that synthesizes the literature on stigma with the literature on scapegoating and divide‐and‐rule as strategies that the wealthy and…
A Sociology of Empathy and Shared Understandings
There has been a steep rise in overdoses and mortality among people who use opioids or who inject drugs (PWUD), including in North America, the United Kingdom, and parts of Eastern Europe, with some of the sharpest increases amassing in rural communities. Currently, the literature lacks a comparative focus on the views and experiences of rural PWUD and professionals who regularly work and interface with them, in terms of their understandings of t…
You're friends until everybody runs out of dope
HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (36 obras) · Medicine (35 obras) · Psychiatry (28 obras) · Psychology (28 obras) · Public health (20 obras) · Sociology (19 obras) · Family medicine (18 obras) · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions (18 obras) · Nursing (18 obras) · Opioid Use Disorder Treatment (16 obras)