University of Wisconsin Oshkosh alumna Stephanie Gyldenvand ’02 and ’21 MPA, will be among the panelists at a Whitburn Wednesday event on Feb. 23 discussing the importance of open and honest dialog about opioids to create a more supportive community for prevention, hope and recovery.
Stephanie Gyldenvand
Responding to the Opioid Epidemic in Wisconsin will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. online via Zoom or in person at UWO’s Culver Family Welcome Center, Ballroom A. RSVP by Sunday, Feb. 20.
Between 2019 and 2020, reported fatalities from opioid overdoses grew by more than a quarter in Wisconsin–from about 1,200 to 1,530. Numbers surged as the coronavirus struck and disrupted social services, prompting the need for further harm reduction strategies.
Gyldenvand, a community health strategist with the Winnebago County Health Department, recently completed a capstone project as part of her UWO master’s degree in public administration.
She said the project offered her “the ability to hear from front and center people with lived experience in the conversation around substance use.”
“Through many conversations held over the summer 2021, I learned how essential a strong connection to the recovery community is to maintaining one’s own recovery,” she said. “I also heard from people in recovery who needed the rest of us to deal with our stigma around drug use, because it is quite literally keeping people from asking for help and delaying a connection to help. Sadly, stigma and isolation are killing people.”
Gyldenvand said a public health perspective not only looks at the acute issue at hand, but also takes a step back to look at social determinants and community conditions that result in outcomes, such as overdose and death.
Such factors can include living wage jobs, transportation access, a strong housing continuum, quality of education and childcare, equitable access to opportunity, how we respond to childhood trauma, access to medical and treatment services, and a sense of connection and belonging.
“People in recovery are some of the most loving, genuine, and honest people I have ever met,” she said. “The recovery community that we have here in the Fox Valley area is strong and also needs our support. We can do better as a broader community to become aware of the disease of addiction, to address our stigma, and to recognize and value the role of recovery.”
Additional panelists at the event will include Trevor French, executive director of Solutions Recovery; Allyson Ford, a nurse practitioner with Aurora Health Care; and Kurt Liebold, UWO police chief.
The Whitburn Wednesdays monthly event series covers a wide range of pressing issues and features panelists representing a diversity of viewpoints. Events occur on one Wednesday each month during the academic year, both in-person and/or online. This month’s event is sponsored by the Whitburn Center for Governance and Policy Research, the UW Oshkosh Department of Public Administration, the UW Oshkosh Police Department and Winnebago County Public Health.
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