Changing the Environment in Which Health Care Professionals Work

Structures in health care settings such as policies, practices and norms can exacerbate stigma and discrimination. Workplace cultures that normalise stigma can influence whether or not patients are treated with care, respect and attention.

A range of interventions at an organisational level can be employed to challenge stigma in a healthcare service.

Chapter	Recommendation	Grade of recommendation
3.8	Healthcare organisations and practices that see, or are likely to encounter patients experiencing problems with alcohol should: consult with their workforce about current practice towards people experiencing alcohol problems and how it may be improved; and implement cultural change initiatives such as review of mission statements or goals, or inclusion of anti-stigma actions in organisational plans and measurements, such as Key Performance Indicators.	GPP
3.9	Large healthcare organisations and/or those who have high volumes of patients experiencing problems with alcohol should consider hiring peer workers and/or patient liaison officers	GPP
3.10	All health practices should have an effective and accessible complaints mechanism	GPP
3.11	Internal audits of complaint mechanisms should assess whether they are: available have ease of access including for those with low literacy publicly and openly advertised non-stigmatising e.g. anonymous	GPP
3.12	Treatment settings that specialise in treating alcohol use disorder should conduct periodic audits of discriminatory practices	GPP