ABSTRACT
In many social and health service fields working with marginalized and stigmatized populations, there are growing expectations for providing person-centered services through collaborative provider-user processes. However, diverse factors often hinder such efforts. The substance use disorder (SUD) treatment service field in the US provides a unique opportunity to understand how staff members with addiction histories facilitate co-production processes by bridging SUD service users and professional clinicians without addiction history. In many SUD clinics, staff with lived experience conduct intake interviews. Medical professionals and clinicians often ask staff with lived experience to offer opinions on the status and service needs of patients. Despite the potential limitations, staff with lived experiences provide valuable opportunities for vulnerable and often stigmatized SUD service users to influence clinical experience and decisions. By mediating dialogues and power relationships between professional clinicians and service users, staff with lived experience contribute to providing person-centered services in the SUD treatment field.
