It’s a simple fact that this country does little to address women’s healthcare needs.
Attention Must Be Paid: Women Lost in the Opioid Crisis, explores the stories of women who are battling opioid use disorder (OUD) and are casualties of this neglect. What has this indifference to women’s health wrought?
Proven, evidence-based treatments are not readily available to women across the societal spectrum.
Our daughters, mothers, sisters, friends.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID — and then ACTION taken.
REVIEWS
This is great stuff. Both gripping and eyeopening.
Attention Must Be Paid was both wonderful & horrible at the same time. Excellent documentary, but so very infuriating. I know first hand how difficult it is to find quality resources for addiction, much less ANY that specifically address women’s and mothers’ needs.
My sister was constantly in the churn of medical/physical needs, dependence, addiction, incarceration, recovery attempts, poor rehab options, etc. None of this was EVER structured for the needs of women. Like several of the stories in this documentary, her story did not end well, and our system is partially to blame. This needs to change and Debra’s documentary spells out all the reasons why this is clear.
My sister died from an opioid overdose. The system failed her. The stigma, the fear of losing her family and the male-centric treatment and recovery programs failed. The first step in correcting this problem is awareness. That is why Attention Must Be Paid is such an important documentary in the battle for the proper care and treatment of women suffering from substance abuse disorder.
This film shows the world what women endure in addiction. The triumph of these ladies in recovery is beautiful and it fills my heart with love. The love shared for themselves and their families is what recovery is all about. You must see this movie.
I found it to be truly engaging from the start. The stories are pertinent, well-described and emotionally powerful. I sat silently at the end, with sorrow and pain, the title so apt.
Thanks for doing these women and all women with opioid addiction this justice, revealing the limitations and biases they face.
The countless tragedies lining America’s opioid crisis have turned us numb to the loss and heartbreak. But, this film vividly portrays how gender inequities in treatment have led to an even more deadly situation for women struggling with opioids
According to the World Drug Report, one of three drug users is female. However women only account for one in five of individuals in treatment. In addition to a lack of gender specific services available, women also face other barriers to seeking and receiving treatment. Attention Must Be Paid highlights the treatment gaps by telling the stories of real people. It is a call to action and should be seen by policy makers at every level.
I am completely and totally blown away. I’ve been at this for over 10 years, and have gotten pretty numb. I’ve lost so many people, sometimes it all seems futile, but your film – attention, but then action indeed. For all my friends that I’ve lost, and all that are still suffering, I am so very grateful for you, your vision, your talent and willingness to show the tough stuff. Months of tears that I’ve kept inside, because there is just one after another, are now released. All I can say is thank you.
The whole idea of each woman’s background—some happy childhoods, some not—woke me up to the idea that it could happen to anyone. The multigenerational trauma experienced by Native Americans reflected the complex difficulties experienced by those women. The stories repeatedly left me in tears.
Powerful and riveting, Attention Must Be Paid provides a window into the facts and reality of the challenges faced by women affected by the opioid crisis.
So moving and heart-rending to watch. It makes you understand on a deeper level, the devastation addiction brings into a person’s life and the structures, or lack of them, in our society which contribute to this crisis.
The Experts
Nora Volkow, M.D.
Director, National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Dr. Volkow’s work has been instrumental in demonstrating that drug addiction is a brain disorder. As a research psychiatrist, Dr. Volkow pioneered the use of brain imaging to investigate how substance use affects brain functions. In particular, her studies have documented that changes in the dopamine system affect the functions of frontal brain regions involved with reward and self-control in addiction.
Marvin Seppala, M.D.
Former Chief Medical Officer, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
He is responsible for the Comprehensive Opioid Response with the Twelve Steps (COR-12), an innovative effort launched in 2012 to integrate medication-assisted treatment with clinical therapies and Twelve Step-based and other peer support to treat opioid use disorder in a specialized addiction treatment setting—work that is influencing other providers nationally.
Ayana Jordan, M.D./ Ph.D.
Adult Psychiatry, NYU/Langone Health
Ayana Jordan, MD, PhD, a renowned expert in addiction and other mental health conditions in underserved populations. She joined NYU Langone Health’s Department of Psychiatry as the Barbara Wilson Associate Professor of Psychiatry. Her clinical and research studies focus on increasing access to evidence-based treatments for racial and ethnic minorities with substance use and other mental health disorders, utilizing community-engaged research principles.
Michael Fingerhood, M.D.
Director, Division of Addiction Medicine, Johns Hopkins University
As an associate professor of medicine and public health, his areas of clinical expertise include addiction medicine and internal medicine. Dr. Fingerhood’s research interests include substance use disorders, contingency management, hepatitis C and HIV
The Filmmakers
DEBRA GONSHER VINIK & DAVID VINIK have produced 20 broadcast documentaries and received six Emmy awards for their films over the years. With an emphasis on social justice issues such as hunger in America, healthcare, intimate partner violence and the struggle of refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants, Diva Communications has always tried to make a difference.
Donate
Click Here to donate to our IMPACT CAMPAIGN for ATTENTION MUST BE PAID.
You will be directed to our fiscal sponsor, The Interfaith Broadcasting Commission, a 501 (C)(3), to donate a tax-deductible contribution to help us advocate for more resources and treatment options for women suffering from OUD.
The Women
BARBARA FRIEDMAN
Los Angeles, California
CAROL VANCONNETT
Auburn, Washington
JUANITA PEREZ ANDERSON
Chico, California
CHEKESHA ‘KAY’ ELLIS
Willingboro, New Jersey
REBECCA ARMSTRONG
Aberdeen, Maryland
ROSA MALDONADO
Auburn, Washington
SUSIE RATHBUN
Henry, Illinois
TERRIE RONEY
West Chester, Pennsylvania