Language preferences and impact of labels on the lived experience of people who use heroin

Non-judgmental language to refer to people who use drugs is replacing terms that can be stigmatizing. A study by Pivovarova and Stein (2019) found people in treatment for heroin use preferred person-first terms. Aim one of our study is to add to knowledge of term preferences among people in the US who use heroin by replicating the Pivovarova and Stein study with a sample of people who use heroin but are not in treatment. Aim two is to extend findings with insights from qualitative analysis.

Our mixed method study replicated survey questions on what labels are preferred. Qualitative questions probed the meaning of terms and impact of changing language. We recruited 206 participants between November 2019 and May 2021. We compare results of the treatment sample with not-in-treatment sample.

Both similarities and differences were found in the quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis revealed that only a third of our sample indicated that changes in language were helpful, while another third indicated that changing the terms did not result in changing attitudes towards people who use drugs.

While stigmatizing language should be avoided, language is constantly evolving and subject to political trends. More emphasis is needed on changing attitudes toward people who use drugs.