The Office of Substance Use Intervention Services is organizing a focus group with student volunteers to discuss substance use in the IU-Bloomington population.
The focus group will be over Zoom the week of Nov. 9. Participants will be split into four groups based on their schedules, with each session lasting an hour and a half. Participants will receive an SUIS water bottle and pair of sunglasses for their time.
Heather Barrett, associate director of Substance Use Intervention Services, said the office is seeking out diverse groups of students to offer their opinions on what they observe in terms of substance use in the IU community.
“We want to hear from any minority students, we want to hear from the Greek world, we want to hear from freshmen but we also want to hear from seniors and the LGBTQ+ community,” Barrett said. “So we’re not just looking for a set view of students.”
While anyone is encouraged to participate, Barrett said SUIS is hoping to get a group of students who have had experience with substance use themselves or have been around it. Because SUIS follows HIPAA laws, all information given is confidential. While students may need to verify their enrollment at IU if possible, they are not required to give their name or other identifying information.
“When they enter the Zoom, they can leave their name up, they can change their name, they can do video or they can just talk,” Barrett said. “We want students to feel as comfortable as possible so they can be as honest as possible.”
The idea to have a focus group was sparked by a grant given to SUIS from the state of Indiana’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction. The goal is to use the information students give to do prevention work and to identify how best to help students in the areas most needed.
Each group has set questions focusing on the stigma around substance use, what students believe leads to substance abuse, how students obtain substances and what would be helpful for students to know before coming to IU. However, any suggestions given by attendees will be taken into consideration, and participants are encouraged to bring up any topic they feel is important.
“If students say, ‘listen, cocaine’s a problem,’ then we might look at prevention efforts around cocaine,” Barrett said.
Beth Sarchet, supervisor of IU Health’s addictions treatment and recovery center, said it’s important to monitor substance use because it helps professionals provide services and make campus safer for everyone.
She said students typically begin to use substances because of being in a new environment around peers who also use, but whether or not they are able to stop after graduation varies.
“For the most part, it’s part of the college experience,” Sarchet said. “For most of them, we tend to see that go away. But for a smaller portion, they continue to become substance dependent.”
Sarchet also said childhood or young adult trauma can lead to people developing an addiction as a way to cope or as an avoidance tactic.
Students who may need help with substance abuse have resources available on campus through SUIS. SUIS uses a harm reduction model, meaning it doesn’t preach abstinence; rather, it teaches safer ways to avoid injury or trouble with the law.
“Our goal isn’t in abstinence, but it’s if you are going to use whatever substance, how can you make sure you aren’t injuring yourself, injuring someone else, getting arrested,” Barrett said.
Students who want to participate in the focus group should contact SUIS at [email protected] or 812-856-3898 for further instructions.
Barrett said she wants anyone who may be struggling and needs help to feel safe, not only students who participate in the focus group.
“I just want people to know it is confidential, we’re never going to judge someone,” Barrett said. “We’re never going to tell someone they have a problem or that they are a problem. We always want to make sure that students do feel like they can come and talk to us about anything and they get to decide what they want to do.”
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