Informing the National Narrative: Stories of Utah's Opioid Crisis
Scope and Contents
30 interviews with full transcripts and audio. Interviews conducted by Melissa Arrien, Andrea Baxter, Reshma Arrington, Kandice Atismé, Jess Bigler, Savannah Eley, Emily Hamilton, Jay Hymas, Tim Keady, Lana Lichfield, Ashley Lund, Heidi Prestwich, Lisa Thompson, Maren Wright Voss, Shirley Wayman, Alise Williams Condie, and Ashley Yaugher.
Dates
- 2019-2020
Language of Materials
Material in English
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.
Conditions Governing Use
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Informing the National Narrative: Stories of Utah's Opioid Crisis must be obtained from the Curator of the Fife Folklore Archives and/or the Special Collections Department Head.
Historical Note
In 2017 more than 72,000 Americans died from an opioid overdose; this is higher than the number of United States military personnel who died during the twenty-year Vietnam War. From 2013 through 2015, Utah’s opioid overdoses outpaced deaths from firearms, falls, and motor vehicle accidents. During the last several years, health agencies and local coalitions have worked diligently to combat this epidemic through addressing opioid prescribing habits, educating the public about the risks of opioids and their addictive properties, and improving access to services to those who have substance use disorder. Throughout this work, stigma surrounding substance misuse, and the barriers it creates, has emerged, perpetuating a belief that substance misuse is the result of a moral failing, experienced by “bad” or “weak” people. Continuation of this belief, especially when internalized by people who experience substance use disorder, leads to isolation and exclusion from the essential care and compassion afforded to those with other medical conditions. This collection aims to help combat this unsound belief.
Extent
30 interviews (1.9 Gigabytes)
Abstract
Informing the National Narrative: Stories of Utah’s Opioid Crisis is a collection of thirty-one interviews (audio and transcripts) of individuals from nine Utah counties who have a personal connection to the opioid epidemic (e.g., people in recovery, family members, treatment providers, etc.). Interviews were conducted by trained community scholars and Utah State University (USU) personnel. These first-person narratives give voice to and commentary on the lived experiences of those most affected by substance use disorder.
Arrangement
Collection is arranged by county and then by interview
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This project grew out of a partnership between USU Extension Health Extension: Advocacy, Research, & Teaching (HEART) team and USU Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives, with support and training provided USU Kinesiology and Health Science Department. In August 2018, the HEART team partnered with USU Special Collections and Archives with the intent to create a project that involved and learned from those closest to Utah’s opioid epidemic, individuals actively dependent on opioids, individuals in recovery, their family members, and services providers. Beginning with trainings in October 2018, interviews took place between June and December 2019, culminating in vetted transcripts hosted in this collection in January 2020. The project concludes with community conversations events, co-sponsored by Utah Humanities, in Utah, March–July 2020.
The project received a seed grant from USU Extension to support the collection of interviews, trainings, and community conversation events. USU Libraries funded trainings, the digital collection, and interview transcription. Project directors are Kandice Atismé, Randy Williams, and Dr. Ashley Yaugher. This project has received USU Institutional Review Board approval, Protocol Numbers 9685 and 10746. Principal Investigators: Randy Williams, Sandra Sulzer, Kandice Atismé, and Ashley Yaugher.
Existence and Location of Copies
Digital Collection found at Informing the National Narrative: Stories of Utah's Opioid Crisis
Processing Information
Processed in January of 2020
- Box Elder County--Utah
- Cache County--Utah
- Carbon County--Utah
- Chronic pain--Treatment
- Davis County--Utah
- Disease
- Drug abuse
- Emery County--Utah
- Interviews
- Medication abuse--Utah--Prevention
- Opioid abuse--Treatment
- Opioid abuse--Utah--Interviews
- Opioid-Related Disorders
- Opioids
- Oral Histories
- Oral Histories
- Pain Management
- Salt Lake County--Utah
- Sound Recordings
- Sound recordings
- Tooele County--Utah
- Transcripts
- Utah
- Utah County--Utah
- Weber County--Utah
- Title
- Guide to the Informing the National Narrative: Stories of Utah's Opioid Crisis 2019-2020
- Author
- Finding aid/Register created by Paul Daybell
- Date
- ©2020
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Based On Dacs Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid encoded in English
Revision Statements
- 2009: Template information was updated to reflect Archives West best practice guidelines.
Repository Details
Part of the Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections & Archives Repository
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
3000 Old Main Hill
Logan Utah 84322-3000 United States
435 797-8248
435 797-2880 (Fax)
scweb@usu.edu