The opioid crisis is being felt acutely in Massachusetts, with nearly 40 individuals dying every week from an opioid overdose. Amidst the epidemic, a new project led by two Harvard Medical School (HMS) students aims to highlight a different story arc.
“RESILIENT: Narratives of Hope from Boston’s Opioid Crisis” is a curated collection of interviews and photographs of 31 individuals connected to the opioid epidemic in the greater Boston area. The exhibit, which launched Wednesday evening at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), displays the insights and images of the individuals across five themed panels spanning more than 35 feet. A team of over twenty individuals, mostly composed of healthcare students and other young professionals, collected the interviews and photographs for RESILIENT over the course of the last year.
RESILIENT co-directors Mimi Yen Li and Joyce Zhou, second-year students at HMS, said they hope the project will engage viewers about topics such as stigma, medication-assisted treatment, and recovery options. They also hope to promote conversation and action.
“We aimed to create a platform to present a different narrative of the opioid crisis,” Zhou said. “While recognizing the tragedy and loss, RESILIENT highlights hope and recovery, a side of the story too often missed in coverage of the epidemic.”