Afrocentric Strategies to Mitigate Stigma-Related Trust and Environmental Barriers to the Maternal Opioid Misuse (MOM) Program

The Maternal Opioid Misuse (MOM) Program offers wraparound services for pregnant and postpartum Black and Brown women with opioid use disorders. Yet, stigma, mistrust, and cultural bias deter engagement. Economic, health and environmental inequalities obstruct access to quality care programs and increase alienation and aversion to help-seeking. Based on analysis of interviews with 17 Medicaid service providers, innovative, culturally responsive strategies to support populations vulnerable to distress, climate crises, and systemic injustices are presented. Specifically, Afrocentric Group-Affirming Strategies (AGAS) aim to mitigate barriers to Black and Brown women's engagement in wraparound social services similar to the MOM Program by prioritizing practices rooted in African American traditions, norms and values, (i.e. spiritual traditions, storytelling, and communal caregiving). These culturally grounded interdisciplinary strategies answer the call to action for building community trust, cultural resilience, increasing engagement in social services, and advancing environmental justice in marginalized communities.