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Owczarzak J, Martin E, Weicker N, Evans I, Morris M, Sherman SG. A qualitative exploration of harm reduction in practice by street-based peer outreach workers. Harm Reduct J 2024; 21:161. [PMID: 39210459 PMCID: PMC11363392 DOI: 10.1186/s12954-024-01076-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite the widespread use of the phrase "harm reduction" and the proliferation of programs based on its principles during the current opioid epidemic, what it means in practice is not universally agreed upon. Harm reduction strategies have expanded from syringe and needle exchange programs that emerged in the mid-1980s primarily in response to the HIV epidemic, to include medication for opioid use disorder, supervised consumption rooms, naloxone distribution, and drug checking technologies such as fentanyl test strips. Harm reduction can often be in tension with abstinence and recovery models to address substance use, and people who use drugs may also hold competing views of what harm reduction means in practice. Street-based outreach workers are increasingly incorporated into harm reduction programs as part of efforts to engage with people more fully in various stages of drug use and nonuse. METHOD This paper explores how peer outreach workers, called "members," in a street-based naloxone distribution program define and practice harm reduction. We interviewed 15 members of a street-based harm reduction organization in an urban center characterized by an enduring opioid epidemic. Inductive data analysis explored harm reduction as both a set of principles and a set of practices to understand how frontline providers define and enact them. RESULTS Analysis revealed that when members talked about their work, they often conceptualized harm reduction as a collection of ways members and others can "save lives" and support people who use drugs. They also framed harm reduction as part of a "path toward recovery." This path was complicated and nonlinear but pursued a common goal of life without drug use and its residual effects. These findings suggest the need to develop harm reduction programs that incorporate both harm reduction and recovery to best meet the needs of people who use drugs and align with the value systems of implementers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jill Owczarzak
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway Ave, Room 739, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
| | - Emily Martin
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway Ave, Room 163, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Noelle Weicker
- Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute, 35 Kneeland Street, 7th - 11th Floor, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Imogen Evans
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway Ave, Room 163, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Miles Morris
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway Ave, Room 163, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Susan G Sherman
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway Ave, Room 749, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
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2
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Egbe CO, Khan A, Scheibe A, Ayo-Yusuf OA. E-cigarettes and harm reduction: a view from sub-Saharan Africa. Tob Control 2024; 33:419-421. [PMID: 38901968 DOI: 10.1136/tc-2024-058840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/22/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Catherine O Egbe
- Mental health, Alcohol, Substance use & Tobacco Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
- Department of Public Health, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Arshima Khan
- Mental health, Alcohol, Substance use & Tobacco Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
- Department of Psychology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Andrew Scheibe
- Community Oriented Primary Care Research Unit, Department of Family Medicine, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Olalekan A Ayo-Yusuf
- Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research, School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
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3
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Dertadian GC, Askew R. Towards a social harm approach in drug policy. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2024; 127:104425. [PMID: 38615484 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 04/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
In this paper, we explore how the social harm approach can be adapted within drug policy scholarship. Since the mid-2000s, a group of critical criminologists have moved beyond the concept of crime and criminology, towards the study of social harm. This turn proceeds decades of research that highlights the inequities within the criminal legal system, the formation of laws that protect the privileged and punish the disadvantaged, and the systemic challenge of the effectiveness of retribution and punishment at addressing harm in the community. The purpose of this paper is to first identify parallels between the social harm approach and critical drug scholarship, and second to advocate for the adoption of a social harm lens in drug policy scholarship. In the paper, we draw out the similarities between social harm and drug policy literatures, as well as outline what the study of social harm can bring to an analysis of drug policy. This includes a discussion on the ontology of drug crime, the myth of drug crime and the ineffective use of the crime control system in response to drug use. The paper then discusses how these conversations in critical criminology and critical drugs scholarship can be brought together to inform future drug policy research. This reflection details the link between social harm and the impingement of human flourishing, explores the role of decolonizing drug policy, advocates for the centralization of lived experience within the research process and outlines how this might align with harm reduction approaches. We conclude by arguing that the social harm approach challenges the idea that neutrality is the goal in drug policy and explicitly seeks to expand new avenues in activist research and social justice approaches to policymaking.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rebecca Askew
- Manchester Metropolitan University: Department of Sociology and Criminology; Visiting Fellow, Drug Policy Modelling Program, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
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4
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August-Rae BC, Baker JT, Buzzanell PM. "Not just rebellious, it's revolutionary": Do-it-yourself hormone replacement therapy as Liberatory Harm Reduction. Soc Sci Med 2024; 345:116681. [PMID: 38418336 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/01/2024]
Abstract
For some transgender people, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is "an ontological necessity for a livable life" (Fondén, 2020, p. 29). Some trans people engage in do-it-yourself (DIY) HRT (aka "DIYers") because of care barriers, including medication costs, difficulty accessing healthcare providers, and mistrust in professionalized medical systems. Although DIY HRT is often framed as highly risky, we analyzed in-depth interviews with 36 U.S. DIYers to understand how they themselves perceived their goals, challenges, and risk mitigation using the Liberatory Harm Reduction and lay expertise frameworks. Participants emphasized experiences of transphobia within medical spaces. In contrast, participants characterized DIY HRT as a community-driven, accessible, and empowering practice. Through self-organized online forums and mutual aid, DIYers constructed adaptive health-promoting practices that challenge biomedical conceptualizations of risk and affirm trans agency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brianna C August-Rae
- Department of Communication, University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave CIS 3068, Tampa, FL, 33620, United States; Department of Communication Studies & Storytelling, East Tennessee State University, 1276 Gilbreath Dr., Johnson City, TN, 37614, United States.
| | - Jonathan T Baker
- Department of Communication, University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave CIS 3068, Tampa, FL, 33620, United States; School of Communication Studies, Ohio University, Schoonover Center 1 Ohio University, Athens, OH, 45701, United States.
| | - Patrice M Buzzanell
- Department of Communication, University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave CIS 3068, Tampa, FL, 33620, United States.
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5
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Kontos N, Rao V. Clinical harm reduction in substance use: An ethics-oriented primer and critique for hospital-based providers. J Eval Clin Pract 2024; 30:260-267. [PMID: 38018023 DOI: 10.1111/jep.13941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 10/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023]
Abstract
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Substance use-targeted harm reduction (HR) has successfully expanded from public health into clinical settings. Hospital-based providers are in positions to encounter, precipitate and/or mediate ethically fraught situations that can arise around clinical HR-informed interventions. We examine why these situations occur and how they might be better addressed. METHOD Literature focused on principles, ethics, and clinical implementation of HR are reviewed to identify core elements of this approach. Next, ethical vulnerabilities within those elements are identified and critiqued. A more productive discourse for acknowledging, voicing and addressing ethical dilemmas in HR is sought. RESULTS Public health orientation and humane concern for substance users, along with a strong anti-stigmatization mission and occasional aversion to a rigid medical model and 'establishment' contributed to HR's successes but can also frame any dissent over its methods as being stigma-fuelled. Practically distilled concepts from moral philosophy and the medical humanities can inform good faith discussions based on common-ground concern for patients. CONCLUSION HR's use in the general hospital and other clinical settings is a positive development, but one that brings with it new ethical demands. Broader knowledge of the principles of HR, of the application of those principles to the hospital setting, and of common-ground concepts from outside of HR could help facilitate productive ethical engagement around substance-using patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas Kontos
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Vinod Rao
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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6
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Killion JA, Magana C, Cepeda JA, Vo A, Hernandez M, Cyr CL, Heskett KM, Wilson DP, Graff Zivin J, Zúñiga ML, Pines HA, Garfein RS, Vickerman P, Terris-Prestholt F, Wynn A, Martin NK. Unit costs of needle and syringe program provision: a global systematic review and cost extrapolation. AIDS 2023; 37:2389-2397. [PMID: 37773035 PMCID: PMC10653296 DOI: 10.1097/qad.0000000000003718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Revised: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Needle and syringe programs (NSPs) are effective at preventing HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) among people who inject drugs (PWID), yet global coverage is low, partly because governments lack data on the cost and cost-effectiveness of NSP in their countries to plan and fund their responses. We conducted a global systematic review of unit costs of NSP provision to inform estimation of cost drivers and extrapolated costs to other countries. METHODS We conducted a systematic review to extract data on the cost per syringe distributed and its cost drivers. We estimated the impact of country-level and program-level variables on the cost per syringe distributed using linear mixed-effects models. These models were used to predict unit costs of NSP provision, with the best performing model used to extrapolate the cost per syringe distributed for 137 countries. The total cost for a comprehensive NSP (200 syringes per PWID/year) was also estimated for 68 countries with PWID population size estimates. RESULTS We identified 55 estimates of the unit cost per syringe distributed from 14 countries. Unit costs were extrapolated for 137 countries, ranging from $0.08 to $20.77 (2020 USD) per syringe distributed. The total estimated spend for a high-coverage, comprehensive NSP across 68 countries with PWID size estimates is $5 035 902 000 for 10 887 500 PWID, 2.1-times higher than current spend. CONCLUSION Our review identified cost estimates from high-income, upper-middle-income, and lower-middle-income countries. Regression models may be useful for estimating NSP costs in countries without data to inform HIV/HCV prevention programming and policy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan A Killion
- University of California San Diego, La Jolla
- San Diego State University, San Diego, California
| | | | | | - Anh Vo
- Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Natasha K Martin
- University of California San Diego, La Jolla
- University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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7
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Ceuterick M, Van Ngoc P, Bracke P, Scholtes B. From prescribing dilemma to knowledge in practice: The ontological politics of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs. Soc Sci Med 2023; 339:116358. [PMID: 37951056 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Revised: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/13/2023]
Abstract
The discrepancy between official guidelines and clinical practice is hardly more pronounced than in the case of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs, also known as benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZRA). Using social-constructionist positioning theory, we unravel how health care professionals deal with the dilemma of prescribing this medication. Our results reveal a prescribing spectrum that is discursively organised around four different storylines used by professionals. The storylines are organised along three axes that are related to a) prescribers' opinions on prescribing and the negotiation of the related risks, b) the power dynamics between provider and patient in the prescribing process and c) the rhetorical use of arguments. The discerned storylines allow us to explore the emotional and moral side of prescribing and demarcate clinical mindlines -internalised tacit guidelines-that professionals adhere to when they prescribe. By relying on Annemarie Mol's conceptualisation of ontological politics, we explain how these storylines enact multiple versions of this class of medication and justify seemingly contradictory prescribing practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa Ceuterick
- Hedera, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
| | - Pauline Van Ngoc
- Research Unit of Primary Care and Health, Department of General Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Piet Bracke
- Hedera, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Beatrice Scholtes
- Research Unit of Primary Care and Health, Department of General Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
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8
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Levenson J, Textor L, Bluthenthal R, Darby A, Wahbi R, Clayton-Johnson MA. Abolition and harm reduction in the struggle for "Care, Not Cages". THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2023; 121:104163. [PMID: 37722347 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.104163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2023] [Revised: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/13/2023] [Indexed: 09/20/2023]
Abstract
Care that is organized around the principles of harm reduction and the movement for police and prison abolition has the potential to uproot and transform structural causes of harm and violence, in the interconnected crises of drug-related harm, policing, and punishment. The United States' crisis of overdose and drug-related harm and its system of policing and punishment are historically and empirically linked phenomena. The abandonment of people whose use of drugs leads to their premature death, in the form of an overdose, is directly and indirectly connected to wider systems of criminalization and incarceration that also produce premature suffering and death. Organizations advocating for harm reduction for people who use drugs (PWUD) and organizations seeking the abolition of police and prisons have developed in parallel albeit with different genealogies. We examine the historical origins, principles, and practical applications of the two movements to identify points of overlap and lessons to be learned for the public health goals of addressing and preventing premature suffering and death in the United States. A case study of Los Angeles (LA) County, where elected officials have promised a new paradigm of care, not punishment, frames our analysis. We show how the principles and strategies of harm reduction and abolition are both necessary to practically realizing a paradigm of care, not punishment, and achieving system transformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy Levenson
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, United States; Department of Anthropology, UCLA, United States; Center for Social Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, United States
| | - Lauren Textor
- Department of Anthropology, UCLA, United States; Center for Social Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, United States; Department of Psychiatry, UCLA, United States.
| | - Ricky Bluthenthal
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, USC, United States
| | - Anna Darby
- Emergency Medicine Program, LAC+USC Medical Center, Keck School of Medicine at USC, United States
| | - Rafik Wahbi
- Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, United States; Frontline Wellness Network, Los Angeles, United States
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9
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Richert T, Stallwitz A, Nordgren J. Harm reduction social work with people who use drugs: a qualitative interview study with social workers in harm reduction services in Sweden. Harm Reduct J 2023; 20:146. [PMID: 37833801 PMCID: PMC10576387 DOI: 10.1186/s12954-023-00884-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social work with people who use drugs (PWUD) has traditionally focused on abstinence and rehabilitation. In recent years, harm reduction has gained an increasingly more important role in social work with PWUD, and social workers are key professionals in many harm reduction services. This study investigates how social workers in harm reduction services for PWUD in Sweden understand the concept of harm reduction and how it relates to goals of rehabilitation, and how they assess and deal with dilemmas and challenges in everyday work. METHODS The study is based on interviews with 22 social workers in harm reduction services for PWUD in the Scania region of Sweden. A thematic analysis in three steps was used in coding and processing the data. RESULTS The social workers pointed to similar values between social work and harm reduction and argued for combining the two fields to improve services for PWUD. Three overarching principles for Harm Reduction Social Work (HRSW) were developed based on the social workers accounts: (1) Harm reduction is a prerequisite for rather than a counterpoint to rehabilitation and recovery, (2) motivational work must be non-mandatory and based on the client's goals, (3) a holistic perspective is crucial for Harm Reduction Social Work. Challenges in doing HRSW concerned restrictive laws, policies, and guidelines, resistance from managers, difficulties in setting boundaries between client autonomy and life-saving interventions, and the risk of normalizing high-risk behaviors. CONCLUSIONS We use the concept of Harm Reduction Social Work to show how social work with PWUD can have a primary focus on reducing harm and risks, while at the same time it involves a holistic perspective that facilitates motivation and change. The suggested principles of HRSW can provide guidance in practical social work with vulnerable PWUD. Social workers can have important roles in most harm reduction settings and may act to enable recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Torkel Richert
- Department of Social Work, Malmö University, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1, 211 19, Malmö, Sweden.
| | - Anke Stallwitz
- Department of Social Work, Protestant University of Applied Sciences Freiburg, Bugginger Straße 38, 79114, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Johan Nordgren
- Department of Social Work, Malmö University, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1, 211 19, Malmö, Sweden
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10
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D'Amours JV. Cultural discourses and HIV/AIDS activists' meanings about PrEP. CULTURE, HEALTH & SEXUALITY 2023; 25:1340-1354. [PMID: 36527448 DOI: 10.1080/13691058.2022.2156617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Since the approval of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention in 2012, research has increasingly considered how communities of men who have sex with men make sense of this prevention technology, often highlighting individual-level attitudes about PrEP. Drawing on interviews with 16 HIV activists, this study aimed to determine how activists make sense of advances in HIV prevention technology. Participants' sense-making about PrEP took the form of not merely the expression of individual attitudes, but rather reflections connected to their personal biographies and activist experience. Activists sustain seemingly contradictory discourses about PrEP, at once drawing on personal biographies and a discourse central to activist history to express scepticism about PrEP, but also other discourses to justify pharmaceutical intervention for prevention. Study findings provide evidence of the importance of attending to past and present cultural discourses when examining health advocacy groups' constructions of advances in science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason V D'Amours
- Department of Sociology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
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11
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Jiao S, Bungay V, Jenkins E, Gagnon M. How an emergency department is organized to provide opioid-specific harm reduction and facilitators and barriers to harm reduction implementation: a systems perspective. Harm Reduct J 2023; 20:139. [PMID: 37735432 PMCID: PMC10515241 DOI: 10.1186/s12954-023-00871-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The intersection of dual public health emergencies-the COVID-19 pandemic and the drug toxicity crisis-has led to an urgent need for acute care based harm reduction for unregulated opioid use. Emergency Departments (EDs) as Complex Adaptive Systems (CASs) with multiple, interdependent, and interacting elements are suited to deliver such interventions. This paper examines how the ED is organized to provide harm reduction and identifies facilitators and barriers to implementation in light of interactions between system elements. METHODS Using a case study design, we conducted interviews with Emergency Physicians (n = 5), Emergency Nurses (n = 10), and clinical leaders (n = 5). Nine organizational policy documents were also collected. Interview data were analysed using a Reflexive Thematic Analysis approach. Policy documents were analysed using a predetermined coding structure pertaining to staffing roles and responsibilities and the interrelationships therein for the delivery of opioid-specific harm reduction in the ED. The theory of CAS informed data analysis. RESULTS An array of system agents, including substance use specialist providers and non-specialist providers, interacted in ways that enable the provision of harm reduction interventions in the ED, including opioid agonist treatment, supervised consumption, and withdrawal management. However, limited access to specialist providers, when coupled with specialist control, non-specialist reliance, and concerns related to safety, created tensions in the system that hinder harm reduction provision with resulting implications for the delivery of care. CONCLUSIONS To advance harm reduction implementation, there is a need for substance use specialist services that are congruent with the 24 h a day service delivery model of the ED, and for organizational policies that are attentive to discourses of specialized practice, hierarchical relations of power, and the dynamic regulatory landscape. Implementation efforts that take into consideration these perspectives have the potential to reduce harms experienced by people who use unregulated opioids, not only through overdose prevention and improving access to safer opioid alternatives, but also through supporting people to complete their unique care journeys.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunny Jiao
- School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, T201-2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Vicky Bungay
- School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, T201-2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada.
| | - Emily Jenkins
- School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, T201-2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Marilou Gagnon
- School of Nursing, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, HSD Building A402a, Victoria, BC, V8P 5C2, Canada
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12
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White SA, Lee R, Kennedy-Hendricks A, Sherman SG, McGinty EE. Perspectives of U.S. harm reduction advocates on persuasive message strategies. Harm Reduct J 2023; 20:112. [PMID: 37596595 PMCID: PMC10436451 DOI: 10.1186/s12954-023-00849-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/20/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The messages used to communicate about harm reduction are critical in garnering public support for adoption of harm reduction interventions. Despite the demonstrated effectiveness of harm reduction interventions at reducing overdose deaths and disease transmission, the USA has been slow to adopt harm reduction to scale. Implementation of evidence-based interventions has been hindered by a historical framing of drug use as a moral failure and related stigmatizing attitudes among the public toward people who use drugs. Understanding how professional harm reduction advocates communicate to audiences about the benefits of harm reduction is a critical step to designing persuasive messaging strategies. METHODS We conducted qualitative interviews with a purposively recruited sample of U.S. professional harm reduction advocates (N = 15) to examine their perspectives on which types of messages are effective in persuading U.S. audiences on the value of harm reduction. Participants were professionals working in harm reduction advocacy at national- or state-level organizations promoting and/or implementing harm reduction. Semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a hybrid inductive/deductive approach. RESULTS Interviewees agreed that messages about the scientific evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of harm reduction approaches are important but insufficient, on their own, to persuade audiences. Interviewees identified two overarching messaging strategies they perceived as persuasive: using messages about harm reduction that align with audience-specific values, for example centering the value of life or individual redemption; and positioning harm reduction as part of the comprehensive solution to current issues audiences are facing related to drug use and overdose in their community. Interviewees discussed tailoring messages strategies to four key audiences: policymakers; law enforcement; religious groups; and the family and friends of people who use, or have used, drugs. For example, advocates discussed framing messages to law enforcement from the perspective of public safety. CONCLUSIONS Interviewees viewed messages as most persuasive when they align with audience values and audience-specific concerns related to drug use and overdose death. Future research should test effectiveness of tailored messaging strategies to audiences using experimental approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A White
- Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway St., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
| | - Rachel Lee
- Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Alene Kennedy-Hendricks
- Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway St., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Susan G Sherman
- Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N Broadway St., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Emma E McGinty
- Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway St., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
- Division of Health Policy and Economics, Weill Cornell Medicine, 402 E. 67th St., New York, NY, 10065, USA
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13
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Rudzinski K, Chan Carusone S, Ceranto A, Ibáñez-Carrasco F, McDonald L, Valentine D, Guta A, Hyshka E, O’Leary W, Cardow A, Strike C. Philanthropic donor perspectives about providing harm reduction services for people living with HIV/AIDS in a hospital setting. Harm Reduct J 2022; 19:124. [PMID: 36384634 PMCID: PMC9668384 DOI: 10.1186/s12954-022-00711-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hospital-based harm reduction services are needed to reduce drug-related harms, facilitate retention in care, and increase medical treatment adherence for people who use drugs. Philanthropic donor support plays a key role in delivering such innovative services which might fall outside current funding streams. However, little is known about how the principles, implementation, and practice of harm reduction services, which are often highly stigmatized, may impact donor behaviours. We explored this issue within Casey House, a speciality hospital in Toronto, Canada. METHODS Our mixed methods study utilized an explanatory sequential design. A convenience sample of n = 106 philanthropic individual donors, recruited via email, completed an anonymous web-based survey, between July and October 2020, which assessed their knowledge of harm reduction services and the potential impact of implementing new hospital-based harm reduction services on donors' future support. Following this, we conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with n = 12 of the donors who completed a survey and volunteered to be interviewed. Interviews examined donors' perspectives about harm reduction and their hopes/concerns for such programming at Casey House. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and participatory-based thematic analysis. RESULTS Survey data show a high level of support for hospital-based harm reduction services, with participants reporting that they "strongly agree/agree" with providing harm reduction equipment (85%), supervised consumption services (82%), and prescription opioid treatment (76%) at Casey House. A majority of participants (66%) claimed that implementing new harm reduction services at the hospital would not impact their future donation, while 6% said they would be less inclined to donate. Interview participants were supportive of harm reduction services at Casey House, recognizing the benefits of providing such services for hospital clients and the wider community. However, some spoke of the potential impact that implementing hospital-based harm reduction services may have on "other" donors who might be opposed. Although some believed harm reduction services should be fully funded by the government, most saw a role for donors in supporting such services. CONCLUSIONS Our findings show support of hospital-based harm reduction services among philanthropic donors and provide insight into how donor support may be affected when such services are introduced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine Rudzinski
- grid.267455.70000 0004 1936 9596School of Social Work, University of Windsor, 167 Ferry Street, Windsor, ON N9A 0C5 Canada ,grid.17063.330000 0001 2157 2938Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College St., Toronto, ON M5T 3M7 Canada
| | - Soo Chan Carusone
- grid.498714.70000 0001 0351 7433Casey House, 119 Isabella St, Toronto, ON M4Y 1P2 Canada ,grid.25073.330000 0004 1936 8227McMaster Collaborative for Health and Aging, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1 Canada
| | - Andre Ceranto
- grid.498714.70000 0001 0351 7433Casey House, 119 Isabella St, Toronto, ON M4Y 1P2 Canada
| | - Francisco Ibáñez-Carrasco
- grid.17063.330000 0001 2157 2938Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College St., Toronto, ON M5T 3M7 Canada
| | - Lisa McDonald
- grid.498714.70000 0001 0351 7433Casey House, 119 Isabella St, Toronto, ON M4Y 1P2 Canada
| | - Dean Valentine
- grid.498714.70000 0001 0351 7433Casey House, 119 Isabella St, Toronto, ON M4Y 1P2 Canada
| | - Adrian Guta
- grid.267455.70000 0004 1936 9596School of Social Work, University of Windsor, 167 Ferry Street, Windsor, ON N9A 0C5 Canada
| | - Elaine Hyshka
- grid.17089.370000 0001 2190 316XSchool of Public Health, University of Alberta, 3-256 Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, 11405 - 87 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9 Canada
| | - William O’Leary
- grid.498714.70000 0001 0351 7433Casey House, 119 Isabella St, Toronto, ON M4Y 1P2 Canada ,grid.268252.90000 0001 1958 9263Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University, 120 Duke St W, Kitchener, ON N2H 6P6 Canada
| | - Andra Cardow
- grid.498714.70000 0001 0351 7433Casey House, 119 Isabella St, Toronto, ON M4Y 1P2 Canada
| | - Carol Strike
- grid.17063.330000 0001 2157 2938Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College St., Toronto, ON M5T 3M7 Canada
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14
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Lustig A, Brookes G. Construction of group norms in a radical acceptanceonline forum for heavy alcohol users: A corpus-based discourse analysis. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2022; 109:103862. [DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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15
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Poliquin H, Perreault M, Villela Guilhon AC, Bertrand K. Improving Harm Reduction Services: A Qualitative Study on the Perspectives of Highly Marginalized Persons Who Inject Drugs in Montreal. JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/00220426221123269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Harm reduction (HR) is an alternative to the moralization of drug use and a pragmatic public health approach aimed at minimizing harms associated with use. This study sought to gain the perspectives of persons who inject drugs (PWID) on the adequacy of services provided by HR organizations in Montreal. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews and two focus groups were conducted with 30 participants. Some of the key advantages of HR perceived by participants include access to injection equipment, psychosocial support, and reduced social isolation. However, many wanted more opportunities for social insertion and greater value to be placed on their knowledge and life experiences (e.g., experiential knowledge of the street scene, drug use, sex work, or homelessness). This study suggests that PWID who access HR services in Montreal are interested in paid work opportunities in environments that promote power sharing, and activities that are conducted and managed by and for them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hélène Poliquin
- Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Michel Perreault
- Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Ana C. Villela Guilhon
- Department of Community Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Longueuil, QC, Canada
| | - Karine Bertrand
- Department of Community Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Longueuil, QC, Canada
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16
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Godkhindi P, Nussey L, O'Shea T. "They're causing more harm than good": a qualitative study exploring racism in harm reduction through the experiences of racialized people who use drugs. Harm Reduct J 2022; 19:96. [PMID: 36008816 PMCID: PMC9406271 DOI: 10.1186/s12954-022-00672-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Increased opioid-related morbidity and mortality in racialized communities has highlighted the intersectional nature of the drug policy crisis. Given the racist evolution of the war on drugs and the harm reduction (HR) movement, the aim of this study is to explore racism within harm reduction services through the perspectives of our participants. Methods We conducted a qualitative descriptive study to explore the perspectives of racialized service users and providers on racism in the HR movement in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). Four racialized service users and four racialized service providers participated in semi-structured interviews that were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed thematically. Results Five themes related to racism in HR were generated: (1) whiteness of harm reduction as a barrier to accessing services, (2) diversifying HR workers as a step towards overcoming distrust, (3) drop-in spaces specific to Black, Indigenous, and people of colour are facilitators to accessing harm reduction, (4) lack of representation in HR-related promotional and educational campaigns, and (5) HR as a frontier for policing. Conclusions Our findings suggest that structural and institutional racism are prevalent in HR services within the GTHA, in the form of colour-blind policies and practices that fail to address the intersectional nature of the drug policy crisis. There is a need for local HR organizations to critically reflect and act on their practices and policies, working with communities to become more equitable, inclusive, and accessible spaces for all people who use drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Tim O'Shea
- Keeping Six - Hamilton Harm Reduction Action League, Hamilton, Canada
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17
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Schroeder SE, Bourne A, Doyle JS, Hellard ME, Stoové M, Pedrana A. Constructing a 'target population': A critical analysis of public health discourse on substance use among gay and bisexual men, 2000-2020. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2022; 108:103808. [PMID: 35914477 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gay and bisexual men (GBM) have higher substance use prevalences than general population samples - often attributed to stigmatisation of sexual minority identities. We examined how influential public health research on substance use among GBM interprets this behaviour and what GBM-specific identities emerge through the discourses employed. METHODS We searched Web of Science for publications on substance use among GBM, selecting 60 of the most cited papers published during 2000-2020. We studied the language used to describe and interpret drug-using behaviour using critical discourse analysis, focusing on interpretive repertoires and subject positions. RESULTS Three distinct discursive tendencies were identified. First, in constructing a target population, GBM who use illicit drugs are positioned as deficient, socially irresponsible, and maladapted to dealing with stigmatisation and HIV risks. Second, in shifting the focus beyond the individual, the gay community is conceptualised as offering a safe space for socialisation. Nonetheless, gay community spaces are problematised as promoting substance use among vulnerable GBM through aggravating loneliness and normalising drug use as a form of maladaptive (avoidance) coping. Third, counterdiscursive movements add nuance, context, and comparisons that relativise rather than generalise substance use and focus on pleasure and self-determination. Such discourses centre the need for interventions that disrupt homophobic socio-structures instead of individualising approaches to limit non-conformity. CONCLUSION 'Expert' assessments of substance use among GBM perpetuate pathologising understandings of this behaviour and promote abject subject positions, contributing to perpetuations of intergroup stigma and social exclusion based on drug and sexual practices. Our findings highlight the need for deliberate and critical engagement with prior research and a conscious effort to disrupt dominant discourses on GBM's substance use.
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Affiliation(s)
- S E Schroeder
- Disease Elimination Program, Burnet Institute, Australia; School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Australia.
| | - A Bourne
- Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Australia
| | - J S Doyle
- Disease Elimination Program, Burnet Institute, Australia; School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Australia; Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
| | - M E Hellard
- Disease Elimination Program, Burnet Institute, Australia; School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Australia; Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
| | - M Stoové
- Disease Elimination Program, Burnet Institute, Australia; School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Australia
| | - A Pedrana
- Disease Elimination Program, Burnet Institute, Australia; School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Australia
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18
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Gehring ND, Speed KA, Wild TC, Pauly B, Salvalaggio G, Hyshka E. Policy actor views on structural vulnerability in harm reduction and policymaking for illegal drugs: A qualitative study. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2022; 108:103805. [PMID: 35907373 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Revised: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Health risks associated with drug use are concentrated amongst structurally vulnerable people who use illegal drugs (PWUD). We described how Canadian policy actors view structural vulnerability in relation to harm reduction and policymaking for illegal drugs, and what solutions they suggest to reduce structural vulnerability for PWUD. METHODS The Canadian Harm Reduction Policy Project is a mixed-method, multiple case study. The qualitative component included 73 semi-structured interviews conducted with harm reduction policy actors across Canada's 13 provinces and territories between November 2016 and December 2017. Interviews explored perspectives on harm reduction and illegal drug policies and the conditions that facilitate or constrain policy change. Our sub-analysis utilized a two-step inductive analytic process. First, we identified transcript segments that discussed structural vulnerability or analogous terms. Second, we conducted latent content analysis on the identified excerpts to generate main findings. RESULTS The central role of structural vulnerability (including poverty, unstable/lack of housing, racialization) in driving harm for PWUD was acknowledged by participants in all provinces and territories. Criminalization, in particular, was seen as a major contributor to structural vulnerability by justifying formal and informal sanctions against drug use and, by extension, PWUD. Many participants expressed that their personal understanding of harm reduction included addressing the structural conditions facing PWUD, yet identified that formal government harm reduction policies focused solely on drug use rather than structural factors. Participants identified several potential policy solutions to intervene on structural vulnerability including decriminalization, safer supply, and enacting policies encompassing all health and social sectors. CONCLUSIONS Structural vulnerability is salient within Canadian policy actors' discourses; however, formal government policies are seen as falling short of addressing the structural conditions of PWUD. Decriminalization and safer supply have the potential to mitigate immediate structural vulnerability of PWUD while policies evolve to advance social, economic, and cultural equity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole D Gehring
- School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Inner City Health and Wellness Program, Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Kelsey A Speed
- School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Inner City Health and Wellness Program, Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - T Cameron Wild
- School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Bernie Pauly
- School of Nursing, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Ginetta Salvalaggio
- Inner City Health and Wellness Program, Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Elaine Hyshka
- School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Inner City Health and Wellness Program, Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
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19
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Milaney K, Haines-Saah R, Farkas B, Egunsola O, Mastikhina L, Brown S, Lorenzetti D, Hansen B, McBrien K, Rittenbach K, Hill L, O'Gorman C, Doig C, Cabaj J, Stokvis C, Clement F. A scoping review of opioid harm reduction interventions for equity-deserving populations. LANCET REGIONAL HEALTH. AMERICAS 2022; 12:100271. [PMID: 36776426 PMCID: PMC9904129 DOI: 10.1016/j.lana.2022.100271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Background Morbidity and mortality associated with opioid use has become a North American crisis. Harm reduction is an evidence-based approach to substance use. Targeted harm reduction strategies that consider the needs of specific populations are required. The objective of this scoping review was to document the range of opioid harm reduction interventions across equity-deserving populations including racialized groups, Indigenous peoples, LGBTQIA2S+, people with disabilities, and women. Methods Ten databases were searched from inception to July 5th, 2021. Terms for harm reduction and opioid use formed the central concepts of the search. We included studies that: (1) assessed the development, implementation, and/or evaluation of harm reduction interventions for opioid use, and (2) reported health-related outcomes or presented perspectives that directly related to experiences receiving or administering harm reduction interventions, (3) were completed within an equity-deserving population and (4) were completed in New Zealand, Australia, Canada or the US. A knowledge map was developed a-priori based on literature outlining different types of harm reduction interventions and supplemented by the expertise of the research team. Findings 12,958 citations were identified and screened, with 1373 reviewed in full-text screening. Of these, 15 studies were included in the final dataset. The most common harm reduction program was opioid agonist treatment (OAT) (n = 11, 73%). The remaining four studies included: overdose prevention; drug testing equipment; and outreach, peer support, and educational programs for safer use. Nine studies focused on women, primarily pregnant/post-partum women, three focused on Indigenous peoples, and three studies included racialized groups. No studies were identified that provided any information on persons with a disability or members of the LGBTQIA2S+ population. Interpretation The scant opioid specific harm reduction literature on equity-deserving populations to date has primarily focused on OAT programs and is focused primarily on women. There is a need for more targeted research to address the diverse social experiences of people who use drugs and the spectrum of harm reduction interventions that are needed. There is also a need to acknowledge the history of harm reduction as a drug-user activist movement aimed at challenging bio-medical paradigms of drug use. Further, there is a need to recognize that academic research may be contributing to health inequity by not prioritizing research with this lens. Funding This research was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrina Milaney
- University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada,Corresponding author.
| | | | | | | | | | - Sage Brown
- University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | | | | | | | | | - Leslie Hill
- Community Partners, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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20
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Canêdo J, Sedgemore KO, Ebbert K, Anderson H, Dykeman R, Kincaid K, Dias C, Silva D, Charlesworth R, Knight R, Fast D. Harm reduction calls to action from young people who use drugs on the streets of Vancouver and Lisbon. Harm Reduct J 2022; 19:43. [PMID: 35505320 PMCID: PMC9064719 DOI: 10.1186/s12954-022-00607-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Vancouver, Canada, and Lisbon, Portugal, are both celebrated for their world-leading harm reduction policies and programs and regarded as models for other cities contending with the effects of increasing levels of drug use in the context of growing urban poverty. However, we challenge the notion that internationally celebrated places like Lisbon and Vancouver are meeting the harm reduction needs of young people who use drugs (YPWUD; referring here to individuals between the ages of 14 and 29). In particular, the needs of YPWUD in the context of unstable housing, homelessness, and ongoing poverty—a context which we summarize here as “street involvement”—are not being adequately met. We are a group of community and academic researchers and activists working in Vancouver, Lisbon, and Pittsburgh. Most of us identify as YPWUD and have lived and living experience with the issues described in this comment. We make several calls to action to support the harm reduction needs of YPWUD in the context of street involvement in and beyond our settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Canêdo
- GAT (Grupo de Ativistas Em Tratamentos), Avenida Paris, 4 - 1º direito, 1000-228, Lisbon, Portugal.,MANAS, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Kali-Olt Sedgemore
- 'Namgis First Nation, Alert Bay, Canada.,Coalition of Peers Dismantling the Drug War, Vancouver, Canada.,British Columbia Center on Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, V6Z 2A9, Canada
| | | | - Haleigh Anderson
- British Columbia Center on Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, V6Z 2A9, Canada
| | - Rainbow Dykeman
- British Columbia Center on Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, V6Z 2A9, Canada
| | - Katey Kincaid
- British Columbia Center on Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, V6Z 2A9, Canada
| | - Claudia Dias
- GAT (Grupo de Ativistas Em Tratamentos), Avenida Paris, 4 - 1º direito, 1000-228, Lisbon, Portugal.,MANAS, Lisbon, Portugal
| | | | | | - Reith Charlesworth
- British Columbia Center on Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, V6Z 2A9, Canada
| | - Rod Knight
- British Columbia Center on Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, V6Z 2A9, Canada.,Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Danya Fast
- British Columbia Center on Substance Use, 400-1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, V6Z 2A9, Canada. .,Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
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21
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The Missing Link: Exploring the History of Harm Reduction Nursing in Canada 1998-2018 to Provide Recommendations for Inpatient Mental Health Nurses. J Addict Nurs 2021; 32:121-125. [PMID: 34060763 DOI: 10.1097/jan.0000000000000398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Harm reduction is becoming integrated into the hospital setting, yet there is a dearth of published academic literature on the topic of harm reduction in mental health nursing practice. No results were found in a literature search focused specifically on harm reduction policies in the inpatient psychiatric settings using the databases CINAHL, Google Scholar, and PubMed. The purpose of this article was to provide a historical overview of harm reduction in Canadian nursing from 1998 to 2018. The aim was to help direct care nurses, educators, and administrators understand past and present trends and to identify future possibilities for integration in inpatient mental health care. A historical perspective was used to identify and explore Canadian harm reduction literature published from 1998 to 2018 to establish the significance to inform nursing practice. The exploration began with a brief description of outreach nursing in early Canada. Focus shifted to the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s, on to the 2000s when a broader lens of harm reduction was adopted, looking beyond the goal of reducing sexually transmitted illnesses. Literature published in the mid-2000s focused on marginalized populations, highlighting the connection between ethical practice and harm reduction philosophy. At the beginning of the 2010s, the Canadian Nursing Association released position statements that explicitly identified the role of harm reduction in nursing practice. Toward the end of the 2010s, the opioid overdose crisis promoted harm reduction nurses taking a broader focus, entering the hospital settings.
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22
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Showalter D, Wenger LD, Lambdin BH, Wheeler E, Binswanger I, Kral AH. Bridging institutional logics: Implementing naloxone distribution for people exiting jail in three California counties. Soc Sci Med 2021; 285:114293. [PMID: 34388622 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2020] [Revised: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Drug overdose is the leading cause of death among formerly incarcerated people. Distribution of the opioid overdose medication naloxone to people who use drugs reduces overdose mortality, and officials in many jurisdictions are now considering or implementing programs to offer naloxone to people exiting jails and prisons. The principles and practices of harm reduction programs such as naloxone distribution conflict with those of penal institutions, raising the question of how organizations based on opposing institutional logics can collaborate on lifesaving programs. Using in-depth interviews and observations conducted over four years with 34 penal, medical, public health, and harm reduction practitioners, we introduce and conceptualize two organizational features to explain why this therapeutic intervention was implemented in local jails in two of three California counties. First, interorganizational bridges between harm reduction, medical, and penal organizations facilitated mutual understanding and ongoing collaboration among administrators and frontline workers in different agencies. Second, respected and influential champions within public health and penal organizations put jail-based naloxone distribution on the local agenda and cultivated support among key officials. Our findings offer guidance for future studies of institutional logics and policy responses to the overdose crisis.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Showalter
- Sociology Department, University of California-Berkeley, 410 Social Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA, 94720-1980, USA.
| | - Lynn D Wenger
- RTI International, 2150 Shattuck Avenue Suite 800, Berkeley, CA, 94704, USA
| | - Barrot H Lambdin
- RTI International, 2150 Shattuck Avenue Suite 800, Berkeley, CA, 94704, USA
| | - Eliza Wheeler
- Homeless Youth Alliance, PO Box 170427, San Francisco, CA, 94117, USA
| | - Ingrid Binswanger
- Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Institute for Health Research, 2550 S. Parker Rd Suite 200, Aurora, CO, 80014, USA
| | - Alex H Kral
- RTI International, 2150 Shattuck Avenue Suite 800, Berkeley, CA, 94704, USA
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23
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Wenger LD, Kral AH, Bluthenthal RN, Morris T, Ongais L, Lambdin BH. Ingenuity and resiliency of syringe service programs on the front lines of the opioid overdose and COVID-19 crises. Transl Res 2021; 234:159-173. [PMID: 33746108 PMCID: PMC8217165 DOI: 10.1016/j.trsl.2021.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 02/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/09/2022]
Abstract
As COVID-19 accelerated throughout 2020, syringe service programs (SSPs) faced challenges necessitating programmatic adaptations to prevent overdose deaths while simultaneously keeping workers and participants safe from COVID-19. We used qualitative methods to gain an understanding of the social context within which SSPs are operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted 36 in-depth interviews with program representatives from 18 programs and used the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) implementation framework to guide data analysis. We focused on 3 of the 4 EPIS constructs: Outer context, inner context, and innovation factors. Our data indicate that responding to the pandemic led to innovations in service delivery such as secondary and mail-based distribution, adoption of telemedicine for enrolling participants in medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and use of virtual training platforms for overdose prevention. We found high levels of staff and volunteer commitment, which was a cornerstone to the success of these innovations. We observed that many SSPs were short-staffed because of their commitment to safety, and some lost current funding as well as opportunities for future funding. Despite minimal staffing and diminished funding, SSPs innovated at an accelerated pace. To ensure the sustainability of these new approaches, a supportive external context (federal, state, and local policies and funding) is needed to support the development of SSPs' inner contexts (organizational characteristics, characteristics of individuals) and sustainment of the innovations achieved regarding delivery of naloxone and MOUD.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Ricky N Bluthenthal
- University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California
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24
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Rêgo X, Oliveira MJ, Lameira C, Cruz OS. 20 years of Portuguese drug policy - developments, challenges and the quest for human rights. SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT PREVENTION AND POLICY 2021; 16:59. [PMID: 34273972 PMCID: PMC8285857 DOI: 10.1186/s13011-021-00394-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Portugal decriminalized the public and private use, acquisition, and possession of all drugs in 2000; adopting an approach focused on public health rather than public-order priorities. Arguing that the Portuguese Drug Policy Model has not proven influential enough to emancipate drug use from the stigma that associates it either with crime or pathology, this article critically discusses the developments and current challenges the Portuguese drug policy confronts, namely the growing diversity of drug use patterns observed in Portugal as well as in Europe. To this end, international and national legal instruments concerning drugs and official local data were analysed. Despite encouraging results, conclusions indicate that these policies are marked by contradictions and ambiguities that have permeated its history since the very beginning, and modest ambitions, particularly regarding the implementation of harm reduction measures. Moreover, the polemical Supreme Court judgment that reestablished, in 2008, drug use as a crime when the quantities at play exceeded those required for an average individual's use for 10 days, might have impacted the landscape of drug use penalization. The last decade saw an increase of punitiveness targeted at drug users, including criminal sentences of jail terms. We finish with some suggestions that could be employed in the practical application of drug policy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ximene Rêgo
- Research Centre for Justice and Governance (JusGov), University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal.
| | - Maria João Oliveira
- Institute of Sociology of the University of Porto, Via Panorâmica, s/n, 4150-564, Porto, Portugal
| | - Catarina Lameira
- Agência Piaget para o Desenvolvimento (APDES) / RECI, Alameda Jean Piaget, n.100, 4001-801 Arcozelo, V.N.Gaia, Portugal
| | - Olga S Cruz
- University Institute of Maia (ISMAI), Research Unit in Criminology and Behavioral Sciences (UICCC/ISMAI) and Research Centre for Justice and Governance, University of Minho (JusGov/UM), ISMAI - Avenida Carlos de Oliveira Campos, 4475-690, Maia, Portugal
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Greer A, Buxton JA, Pauly B, Bungay V. Organizational support for frontline harm reduction and systems navigation work among workers with living and lived experience: qualitative findings from British Columbia, Canada. Harm Reduct J 2021; 18:60. [PMID: 34090473 PMCID: PMC8179702 DOI: 10.1186/s12954-021-00507-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2020] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The inclusion of people with lived and living experience of substance use is essential to effective and client-centered harm reduction services and strategies. The aim of this study is to critically examine and characterize peer worker roles and the definition, recognition, and support for these roles within harm reduction organizations. METHODS Fifteen interviews were conducted with peer workers-people with lived and living experience of substance use engaged in harm reduction service delivery-in British Columbia, Canada. An interpretive descriptive approach to data analysis was used to generate themes that best illustrated the roles of peer workers. FINDINGS Two interrelated and overarching themes are presented: (1) peer work in practice; (2) organizational support. Our findings illustrate that peer work is incredibly complex and demanding, requiring peers to be at the forefront of support within their communities while simultaneously navigating the oppressive structures within which they work. While peer workers found a high degree of purpose and meaning in their day-to-day work, their roles lacked definition within organizations, which produced feelings of ineffectiveness and being undervalued. A lack of organizational understanding and recognition of their roles was evident from unclear "peer" role titles, a lack of role communication and expectations, the representation of experiential knowledge, and a lack of role support and training. CONCLUSIONS These findings may help harm reduction organizations understand peer work and worker roles which may inform and promote equity in future harm reduction initiatives that include people with living and lived experience of substance use.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Greer
- School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada.
| | - J A Buxton
- School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - B Pauly
- School of Nursing, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, BC, V8W 2Y2, Canada
| | - V Bungay
- School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, T201-2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
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Zigon J. How is it between us? Relational ethics and transcendence. JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1467-9655.13496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jarrett Zigon
- University of Virginia Brooks Hall Charlottesville VA 22904 USA
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Stalcup M, Wallace Y. Careful Practices: Ethics and the Anethical in Canadian Addiction Trajectories. Med Anthropol 2021; 40:417-431. [PMID: 33703966 DOI: 10.1080/01459740.2021.1892667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
A drug overdose epidemic in North America has sped the expansion of harm reduction services. Drawing on fieldwork in Ottawa, Ontario, we examine forms of care among people offering and accessing these resources. Notably, our interlocutors do not always characterize harm reduction as caring for oneself. Thus, we differentiate between the ethics of care through which one enters desired subject positions, and anethical careful practices. Harm reduction is sometimes anethical, enacted through minor gestures that do not constitute ethical work but allow for its future realization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meg Stalcup
- School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Yvonne Wallace
- School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
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Karlsson N, Berglund T, Ekström AM, Hammarberg A, Tammi T. Could 30 years of political controversy on needle exchange programmes in Sweden contribute to scaling-up harm reduction services in the world? NORDIC STUDIES ON ALCOHOL AND DRUGS 2020; 38:66-88. [PMID: 35309093 PMCID: PMC8899060 DOI: 10.1177/1455072520965013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 09/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Aims: To end the hepatitis and AIDS epidemics in the world by 2030, countries are encouraged to scale-up harm reduction services and target people who inject drugs (PWID). Blood-borne viruses (BBV) among PWID spread via unsterile injection equipment sharing and to combat this, many countries have introduced needle and syringe exchange programmes (NEP), though not without controversy. Sweden’s long, complicated harm reduction policy transition has been deviant compared to the Nordic countries. After launch in 1986, no NEP were started in Sweden for 23 years, the reasons for which are analysed in this study. Methods: Policy documents, grey literature and research mainly published in 2000–2017 were collected and analysed using a hierarchical framework, to understand how continuous build-up of evidence, decisions and key events, over time influenced NEP development. Results: Sweden’s first NEP opened in a repressive-control drug policy era with a drug-free society goal. Despite high prevalence of BBV among PWID with recurring outbreaks, growing research and key-actor support including a NEP law, no NEP were launched. Political disagreements, fluctuating actor-coalitions, questioning of research, and a municipality veto against NEP, played critical roles. With an individual-centred perspective being brought into the drug policy domain, the manifestation of a dual drug and health policy track, a revised NEP law in 2017 and removal of the veto, Sweden would see fast expansion of new NEP. Conclusions: Lessons from the Swedish case could provide valuable insight for countries about to scale-up harm reduction services including how to circumvent costly time- and resource-intensive obstacles and processes involving ideological and individual moral dimensions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niklas Karlsson
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; and Department of Public Health Analysis and Development, Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden
| | - Torsten Berglund
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; and Department of Public Health Analysis and Development, Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden
| | - Anna Mia Ekström
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; and Department of Medicine Huddinge, Division of Infectious Diseases, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anders Hammarberg
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; and Stockholm Centre for Dependency Disorders, Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council, Sweden
| | - Tuukka Tammi
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland
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Abstract
Talk of harm reduction has expanded horizontally, to apply to an ever-widening range of policy domains, and vertically, becoming part of official legal and political discourse. This expansion calls for philosophical theorization. What is the best way in which to characterize harm reduction? Does it represent a distinctive ethical position? How is it best morally justified, and what are its moral limits? I distinguish two varieties of harm reduction. One of them, technocratic harm reduction, is premised on the fact of non-enforceability of prohibitionist policies. The second, deliberative harm reduction, is premised on the fact of reasonable disagreement, grounded in the fact that reasonable persons disagree about a range of controversial behaviours. I argue that deliberative harm reduction better accounts for some of harm reduction's most attractive features, and provides a plausible way of accounting for harm reductions's justificatory grounds and limits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel M Weinstock
- Institute for Health and Social Policy, Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
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King NB. Harm Reduction: A Misnomer. HEALTH CARE ANALYSIS 2020; 28:324-334. [PMID: 33151427 PMCID: PMC7679315 DOI: 10.1007/s10728-020-00413-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
‘Harm reduction’ programs are usually justified on the utilitarian grounds that they aim to reduce the net harms of a behavior. In this paper, I contend that (1) the historical genesis of harm reduction programs, and the crucial moral imperative that distinguishes these programs from other interventions and policies, are not utilitarian; (2) the practical implementation of harm reduction programs is not, and probably cannot be, utilitarian; and (3) the continued justification of harm reduction on utilitarian grounds is untenable and may itself cause harm. Promoting harm reduction programs as utilitarian in the public arena disregards their deeper prioritarian impulses. ‘Harm reduction’ is a misnomer, and the name should be abandoned sooner rather than later.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas B King
- Biomedical Ethics Unit, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
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31
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Faith-based alcohol treatment in England and Wales: New evidence for policy and practice. Health Place 2020; 66:102457. [PMID: 33120067 DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2020.102457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2020] [Revised: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 10/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
While the historical importance of religion in alcohol treatment is well known, the size, scope and significance of contemporary activities remain unclear. Here we begin to address this gap in knowledge by presenting results from a mixed methods study of faith-based alcohol treatment in England and Wales. The paper begins by mapping location, religious affiliation, organisational structure and service provision. We then discuss evidence regarding challenges, opportunities and tensions bound up with faith-based organisations 'filling gaps' left by long term restructuring of alcohol service provision, recent 'austerity' funding cuts and relationships between secular and faith-based organisations. In the final substantive section, we engage with questions of ethics and care by focusing on the internal workings of a subset of faith-based programs that make requirements for religious participation. Drawing on the variegated experiences of service-users, we reflect on the ethics of religious conversion in faith-based alcohol treatment. The conclusion offers policy and practice relevant insights and outlines areas for future research on religion, austerity, and alcohol treatment.
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32
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Jones J. What Do We Mean When We Call Someone a Drug Addict? HEALTH CARE ANALYSIS 2020; 28:391-403. [PMID: 33104912 DOI: 10.1007/s10728-020-00410-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/12/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
When thinking about the harms of drug addiction, there is a tendency to focus on the harms of drug consumption. But not all harms associated with drug addiction are caused by drug consumption. There is at least another dimension of harm worth considering: what I call the linguistic harm of drug addiction. Starting with an analysis of 'drug addict' as it appears in the media, I argue that 'drug addict' is inconsistently applied to people with drug addiction and that this inconsistency reveals two important features of the term. First, being called a 'drug addict' is worse than being described as 'having a drug problem'. Second, being called a drug addict exacerbates the challenges experienced by people with drug addiction. Referencing the 'addict' narrative, I detail how calling someone a drug addict can add to the marginalization of people with drug addiction and argue that to eliminate the linguistic harm of drug addiction, we ought to reduce it first. Using the analysis of 'drug addict' from the first half of the paper, I propose a novel harm reduction strategy that benefits people with drug addiction but calls on people who do not use drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janet Jones
- University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave., W, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.
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33
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Klein A. Harm Reduction Works: Evidence and Inclusion in Drug Policy and Advocacy. HEALTH CARE ANALYSIS 2020; 28:404-414. [PMID: 33079317 DOI: 10.1007/s10728-020-00406-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
One of harm reduction's most salient features is its pragmatism. Harm reduction purports to distinguish itself from dominant prohibitionist and abstinence-based policy paradigms by being grounded in what is realistic, in contrast with the moralism or puritanism of prohibition and abstention. This is reflected in the meme "harm reduction works", popular both in institutional and grassroots settings. The idea that harm reduction is realistic and effective has meant different things among the main actors who seek to shape harm reduction policy. Drawing on scholarly literature about harm reduction, as well as examples from recent harm reduction advocacy efforts in relation to drug policy in Canada, this paper argues that harm reduction distinguishes itself through a unique "way of knowing". Grassroots harm reduction advocates, particularly as they argue through human rights frameworks, do more than simply make claims for the provision of particular services-like needle exchange, safe consumption sites, safe supply and the like-on the basis that these are realistic paths toward the health and well-being of people who use drugs. Rather, as they marshal lived experience in support of these policy changes through peer-driven initiatives in contexts of prohibition, they make particular claims about what constitute valid, methodologically rigorous evidence bases for action in contexts where policies to date have been driven by ideology and have developed in ways that have excluded and marginalized those most affected from policymaking. In doing so, they advocate for the centrality of people who use drugs not only in policy-making processes, but in evidence production itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alana Klein
- Faculty of Law, McGill University, 3644 Peel Street, Montreal, QC, H3A 1W9, Canada.
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34
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Henning A, McLean K, Andreasson J, Dimeo P. Risk and enabling environments in sport: Systematic doping as harm reduction. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2020; 91:102897. [PMID: 32768155 PMCID: PMC7402240 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Revised: 07/20/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Doping and the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) are often considered and discussed as a separate issue from other types of substance use, by sporting bodies, politicians, the media, and athletes who use drugs themselves. However, perceptions and understandings of substance use in the sport and fitness world are directly related to those of substance use in the non-sport world. One way the gap between sport and non-sport substance use research can be bridged is to consider sport risk and enabling environments. Similar to non-sport contexts and drug use, it is important to analyse the environments in which doping occurs. This approach allows us to examine the dynamic interplay between risk and enabling factors, as the enabling environment shifts in response to changes produced in the risk environment, and vice versa. There are models of sport environments that have proven effective at both enabling doping by athletes and reducing harms to athletes: systematic doping. This article will use secondary literature in order to review and analyse known cases of systematic doping through the risk and enabling environment frameworks. We argue that these systems responded to anti-doping in ways that protected athletes from the risk factors established by anti-doping policy and that athletes suffered most when these systems were revealed, exposing athletes to the full range of doping harms. Further, we argue that risks within these systems (i.e. extortion, bullying) resulted from the broader prohibitive sport environment that forces doping underground and allows such abuses to occur.
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Affiliation(s)
- April Henning
- Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, University of Stirling, UK.
| | | | | | - Paul Dimeo
- Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, University of Stirling, UK
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35
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Nowell M, Masuda JR. "You need to just provide health services:" navigating the politics of harm reduction in the twin housing and overdose crises in Vancouver, BC. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2020; 82:102774. [PMID: 32512342 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2019] [Revised: 04/19/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Since harm reduction's origins as a grassroots, activist movement, cooperation and compromise among people who use drugs, bureaucrats, politicians, and other actors have been critical to its advancement in Canada. Critics have argued, however, that the institutionalization of harm reduction practice within the context of a politically sensitive environment has eroded its radical potential. The overdose crisis in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES) community has led to innovative harm reduction organizing that has been replicated globally. In this paper, we explore how one such intervention, the Tenant Overdose Response Organizers (TORO) program, has supported a resurgence in tenant-led harm reduction organizing in Single Room Occupancy (SRO) buildings in the DTES. METHODS We draw on 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted between May 2017 and August 2018, over 100 hours of participant observation of TORO activities, and 15 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the program. RESULTS TORO's leaders attempted to mobilize harm reduction intervention towards collective action on SRO risk environments underlying drug-related harms, but their efforts were constrained by the necessity of meeting practical expectations of funders regarding health education and supply distribution. Navigating these constraints ultimately shaped the development of the TORO program, helping to secure its longevity but also limiting its ability to organize a coordinated harm reduction and tenants' rights response to the dual housing and overdose crises. CONCLUSION Our examination of TORO demonstrates how the harm reduction movement continues to be shaped by conflict, cooperation, and compromise between the state and grassroots groups. Even as actors strive to work collaboratively, the unequal distribution of power inherent in this relationship may contribute to the reinscription of a depoliticized harm reduction approach. We discuss the potential role of the risk environment framework in lending political legitimacy to grassroots harm reduction initiatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magnus Nowell
- Centre for Environmental Health Equity (CEHE), School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, 28 Division St, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada.
| | - Jeffrey R Masuda
- Centre for Environmental Health Equity (CEHE), School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, 28 Division St, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada
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- Downtown Eastside SRO Collaborative Society (SRO-C), 203-268 Keefer St, Vancouver, BC, V6A 1×5, Canada
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36
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Helping behaviour among people who use drugs: Altruism and mutual aid in a harm reduction program. JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/casp.2432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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37
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Greer A, Ritter A. The legal regulation of drugs and role of government: Perspectives from people who use drugs. Drug Alcohol Depend 2020; 206:107737. [PMID: 31760251 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2019] [Revised: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 11/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The legalization and regulation of currently illicit drugs has come to the forefront of drug policy debates in recent years, particularly in the context of cannabis legalization and the opioid crisis in North America. However, sufficient granularity on the various aspects of a legally regulated drug supply is missing from these debates. Further, the voices and opinions of people who use drugs have generally been absent from drug law reform deliberations. This study aimed to examine the views of people who use drugs and who are deeply impacted by drug policies to understand the perceived impacts and role of government under a legalized-regulated market. METHODS Four focus groups were held with people who use drugs in Sydney, Australia. RESULTS Most participants supported various models of legalization, although the perspectives on these models were diverse. Overriding these views was skepticism over the government's role in regulating a legal market, as well as concern for the personal agency of people who use drugs under a medically regulated drug supply model. Some participants discussed potential harms (e.g. increases in use and initiation), but emphasized the benefits (e.g. increases in quality and safety) from legal reform. DISCUSSION While there was support for legal models of drug supply regulation, findings have major implications in terms of how governments and medical systems may perpetuate the oppression of people who use drugs through regulation, and urge future drug policy deliberations to include broader perspectives from the affected community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alissa Greer
- School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby BC V5A 1S6, Canada.
| | - Alison Ritter
- Drug Policy Modeling Program, Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Kensington NSW 2052, Australia
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Moreira CR, Soares CB, Campos CMS, Laranjo THM. Harm reduction: trends being disputed in health policies. Rev Bras Enferm 2019; 72:312-320. [PMID: 31851269 DOI: 10.1590/0034-7167-2017-0671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2017] [Accepted: 08/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE to identify the underlying harm reduction trends in Brazilian drug policies. METHOD The research, qualitative in nature, used in-depth interviews with experts in the field. The recorded and transcribed material was analyzed via the content analysis method. RESULTS The analysis exposed the following conceptions: drug use is a disease, and its associated health practices should be treatment, rehabilitation and social reintegration. These conceptions deviate to some extent from the war on drugs approach, and support the adoption of harm-reduction practices, proposed by public health. Less expressively, critical conceptions which clearly distance themselves from the prohibitionist approach and from public health may be seen, in line with the perspective of collective health, for the implementation of emancipatory harm-reduction practices. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS Harm-reduction conceptions and practices reveal the underlying conservative, liberal, and critical tendencies in Brazilian drug policies.
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Critical studies of harm reduction: Overdose response in uncertain political times. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2019; 76:102615. [PMID: 31837567 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.102615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2019] [Revised: 11/14/2019] [Accepted: 12/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
North America continues to witness escalating rates of opioid overdose deaths. Scale-up of existing and innovative life-saving services - such as overdose prevention sites (OPS) as well as sanctioned and unsanctioned supervised consumption sites - is urgently needed. Is there a place for critical theory-informed studies of harm reduction during times of drug policy failures and overdose crisis? There are different approaches to consider from the critical literature, such as those that, for example, interrogate the basic principles of harm reduction or those that critique the lack of pleasure in the discourses surrounding drug use. Influenced by such work, we examine the development of OPS in Canada, with a focus on recent experiences from the province of Ontario, as an important example of the impacts associated with moving from grassroots harm reduction to institutionalised policy and practice. Services appear to be most innovative, dynamic, and inclusive when people with lived experience, allies, and service providers are directly responding to fast-changing drug use patterns and crises on the ground, before services become formally bureaucratised. We suggest a continuing need to both critically theorise harm reduction and to build strong community relationships in harm reduction work, in efforts to overcome political moves that impede collaboration with and inclusiveness of people who use drugs.
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Campos S, Benoit E, Dunlap E. Risk management strategies of synthetic cannabis users. DRUGS AND ALCOHOL TODAY 2019; 19:270-281. [PMID: 34046079 DOI: 10.1108/dat-04-2019-0012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the various ways users of synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) managed the dangers associated with the consumption of this substance.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a parent study of the use and market of synthetic cathinones (also known as “bath salts”) in New York City, Houston, Galveston and New Orleans. Focus groups were conducted in all four cities with a total of 20 individuals who identified as users of SCs. Grounded theory was used to analyse focus group transcripts.
Findings
Participants were aware of drug-related risks and implemented strategies to reduce harm to health. Protective measures fell into two broad categories: marketing and consumption. They noted the instability of SC products and consumer manipulation through packaging. Harm reduction (HR) strategies included: carefully selecting SC sources; sticking to one brand; handling their own SC; managing amount of K2 consumed in one sitting; controlling the pace.
Originality/value
Given the small amount of data on user experience with SCs and its risk to health, it is important to learn from users themselves how they create methods to keep themselves safe. This is one of the first studies recording HR practices of SC users and can contribute to intervention programs and organisations serving substance users.
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Pasquim HM, Lachtim SAF, Soares CB. Drug content in games for mobile devices. Rev Esc Enferm USP 2019; 53:e03520. [PMID: 31618315 DOI: 10.1590/s1980-220x2018039403520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2018] [Accepted: 02/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To analyze drug content in games for mobile devices. METHOD An exploratory study implementing a qualitative approach. The collective health critical perspective was taken in relation to the ideology of prohibitionist education and the foundations of emancipatory education in the area of drugs. Games about drugs were selected in a virtual store based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Content analysis was performed with the support of an interpretative model specific to digital games used to identify textual and procedural messages in games. RESULTS Nineteen (19) games were analyzed. Most of them reiterate prohibitionist positions and play the role of transmitting prescriptive and normative information, assuming the objective of disciplining risk behaviors. This evident limitation demonstrates an important contradiction that games are strategies of contemporary language, with outdated and unscientific content. CONCLUSION Despite the potential of virtual tools, the analyzed games are marked by intense simplification regarding the phenomenon of drug use and stimulate fast preprogrammed responses that do not go beyond memorization and conditioning. A need for scientific updates and incorporation of critical educational content persists in the area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heitor Martins Pasquim
- Universidade Federal de Goiás, Faculdade de Educação Física e Dança, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
| | | | - Cassia Baldini Soares
- Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Enfermagem, Departamento de Enfermagem em Saúde Coletiva, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
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Godoy-Vieira A, Soares CB, Cordeiro L, Campos CMS. Inclusive and emancipatory approaches to occupational therapy practice in substance-use contexts. The Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy 2018; 85:307-317. [PMID: 30428689 DOI: 10.1177/0008417418796868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND. Occupational therapy practice is enhanced through clear understanding of its epistemological foundations. In the area of substance use, practices are strongly functionalist. PURPOSE. This study unearths epistemologies through analyzing practices addressing the social needs of clients with problematic substance use. METHOD. This study used an exploratory qualitative approach and was based on Marxist philosophies. Qualitative interviews were conducted with nine occupational therapists experienced in working with substance users. Data were analyzed through a dialectic approach to content analysis based on the Marxist theory of labour process. FINDINGS. The occupational therapy practices were found to follow common principles: clients are agents of transformation in health processes; creativity is a strong element of practice and underlies the whole therapeutic process; and conditions of social reproduction compose the object of occupational therapy (i.e., what is transformed through occupational therapy practices). Two different approaches using these principles were uncovered according to the labour-process purposes: inclusive and emancipatory. IMPLICATIONS. Systematization of practices based on epistemological foundations strengthens occupational therapists' ability to link actions to theories.
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Fast D, Cunningham D. “We Don’t Belong There”: New Geographies of Homelessness, Addiction, and Social Control in Vancouver’s Inner City. CITY & SOCIETY 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/ciso.12177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Harm reduction in a Norwegian housing first project: a qualitative study of the treatment providers’ practice. ADVANCES IN DUAL DIAGNOSIS 2018. [DOI: 10.1108/add-08-2017-0015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Purpose
Little is known about how harm reduction is practiced in Norwegian housing first (HF) projects. The purpose of this paper is to explore, describe, and interpret how providers apply a harm reduction approach within a housing project focused on individuals who are homeless with co-morbid substance use and mental health problems.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study was part of a larger evaluation study of a three-year HF project in a Norwegian municipality. Data were collected using four multi-stage focus groups with five providers working in the HF project. Focus group interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis.
Findings
Analysis resulted in three main themes: “Letting the service user sit in the driver’s seat,” “We don’t follow service provision contracts, we do everything,” and “Collaborating with the local community.”
Research limitations/implications
There is a need to develop increased knowledge about service users’ experiences within the harm reduction approach.
Practical implications
To practice effective harm reduction, treatment providers must have open authorizations and the opportunity to exercise professional judgment. Harm reduction practice must also focus on social, political, and economic factors influencing users’ everyday lives.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the knowledge base on harm reduction within HF practice that differs from a traditional model wherein clients are expected to abstain from substance use. It highlights important preconditions for challenges practitioners might encounter at both individual and service system levels.
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Buchman DZ, Orkin AM, Strike C, Upshur REG. Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution Programmes and the Ethics of Task Shifting. Public Health Ethics 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/phe/phy001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
North America is in the grips of an epidemic of opioid-related poisonings. Overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) programmes emerged as an option for structurally vulnerable populations who could not or would not access mainstream emergency medical services in the event of an overdose. These task shifting programmes utilize lay persons to deliver opioid resuscitation in the context of longstanding stigmatization and marginalization from mainstream healthcare services. OEND programmes exist at the intersection of harm reduction and emergency services. One goal of OEND programmes is to help redress the health-related inequities common among people who use drugs, which include minimizing the gap between people who use drugs and the formal healthcare system. However, if this goal is not achieved these inequities may be entrenched. In this article, we consider the ethical promises and perils associated with OEND as task shifting. We argue that public health practitioners must consider the ethical aspects of task shifting programmes that may inadvertently harm already structurally vulnerable populations. We believe that even if OEND programmes reduce opioid-related deaths, we nevertheless question if, by virtue of its existence, OEND programmes might also unintentionally disenfranchise structurally vulnerable populations from comprehensive healthcare services, including mainstream emergency care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Z Buchman
- Bioethics Program, University Health Network, University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
| | - Aaron M Orkin
- Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute, Mt. Sinai Hospital
- Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
- Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto
| | - Carol Strike
- Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
| | - Ross E G Upshur
- University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Lunenfeld-Tannenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System
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Pols J, Althoff B, Bransen E. The Limits of Autonomy: Ideals in Care for People with Learning Disabilities. Med Anthropol 2017; 36:772-785. [DOI: 10.1080/01459740.2017.1367776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jeannette Pols
- Department of General Practice, Section of Medical Ethics, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Anthropology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Brigitte Althoff
- Department of Anthropology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Els Bransen
- Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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Bozinoff N, Small W, Long C, DeBeck K, Fast D. Still "at risk": An examination of how street-involved young people understand, experience, and engage with "harm reduction" in Vancouver's inner city. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2017; 45:33-39. [PMID: 28578217 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2017.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2016] [Revised: 04/17/2017] [Accepted: 05/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Vancouver is an international leader in implementing interventions to reduce harms related to drug use. However, street-involved young people who use drugs continue to be vulnerable to overdose death, hepatitis C (HCV) infection, and high rates of syringe sharing. To better understand this in the context of the intensive public health response, we examined how young people, who are involved in the 'street drug scene', understood, experienced and engaged with harm reduction. METHODS Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2013 with 13 young people (ages 17-28) recruited from the At-Risk Youth Study, a prospective cohort of street-involved and drug-using young people. These interviews were embedded within a larger, eight-year program of ethnographic research and explored participants' understandings of harm reduction, their use of specific services, and their ideas about improving their day-to-day lives. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and a thematic analysis was performed. RESULTS Young peoples' ideas about harm reduction were diverse and expansive. They articulated the limitations of existing programs, indicating that while they are positioned to reduce the risk of HIV and HCV transmission, they offer little meaningful support to improve young peoples' broader life chances. Young people described strategies to mitigate risk and harm in their own lives, including transitioning to drugs deemed less harmful and attempting to gain access to drug treatment. Finally, young people indicated that spatial considerations (e.g., distance from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside) strongly determined access to services. CONCLUSIONS In Vancouver, a large, well established harm reduction infrastructure seeks to reduce HIV and HCV transmission among street-involved young people. However, young peoples' multiple understandings, experiences and engagements with harm reduction in this setting illustrate the limitations of the existing infrastructure in improving their broader life chances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikki Bozinoff
- British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada; Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, 500 University Ave, Toronto, ON M5G 1V7, Canada
| | - Will Small
- British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada; Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - Cathy Long
- Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 1P8, Canada
| | - Kora DeBeck
- British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada; School of Public Policy, Simon Fraser University, Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6 B 5K3, Canada
| | - Danya Fast
- British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada; Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, St. Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada.
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Boucher LM, Marshall Z, Martin A, Larose-Hébert K, Flynn JV, Lalonde C, Pineau D, Bigelow J, Rose T, Chase R, Boyd R, Tyndall M, Kendall C. Expanding conceptualizations of harm reduction: results from a qualitative community-based participatory research study with people who inject drugs. Harm Reduct J 2017; 14:18. [PMID: 28494774 PMCID: PMC5427533 DOI: 10.1186/s12954-017-0145-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2016] [Accepted: 03/30/2017] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The perspectives of people who use drugs are critical in understanding why people choose to reduce harm in relation to drug use, what practices are considered or preferred in conceptualizations of harm reduction, and which environmental factors interfere with or support the use of harm reduction strategies. This study explores how people who inject drugs (PWID) think about harm reduction and considers the critical imperative of equity in health and social services delivery for this community. Methods This community-based participatory research study was conducted in a Canadian urban centre. Using a peer-based recruitment and interviewing strategy, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted by and with PWID. The Vidaview Life Story Board, an innovative tool where interviewers and participant co-construct a visual “life-scape” using a board, markers, and customized picture magnets, was used to facilitate the interviews. The topics explored included injection drug use and harm reduction histories, facilitators and barriers to using harm reduction strategies, and suggestions for improving services and supports. Results Twenty-three interviews with PWID (14 men and 9 women) were analysed, with a median age of 50. Results highlighted an expanded conceptualization of harm reduction from the perspectives of PWID, including motivations for adopting harm reduction strategies and a description of harm reduction practices that went beyond conventional health-focused concerns. The most common personal practices that PWID used included working toward moderation, employing various cognitive strategies, and engaging in community activities. The importance of social or peer support and improving self-efficacy was also evident. Further, there was a call for less rigid eligibility criteria and procedures in health and social services, and the need to more adequately address the stigmatization of drug users. Conclusions These findings demonstrated that PWID incorporate many personal harm reduction practices in their daily lives to improve their well-being, and these practices highlight the importance of agency, self-care, and community building. Health and social services are needed to better support these practices because the many socio-structural barriers this community faces often interfere with harm reduction efforts. Finally, “one size does not fit all” when it comes to harm reduction, and more personalized or de-medicalized conceptualizations are recommended.
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Affiliation(s)
- L M Boucher
- Élisabeth Bruyère Research Institute, 43 Bruyère Street, Annex E, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 5C8, Canada.
| | - Z Marshall
- Social Development Studies & School of Social Work, Renison University College, University of Waterloo, 240 Westmount Road North, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G4, Canada
| | - A Martin
- Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, 1053 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, K1Y 4E9, Canada
| | - K Larose-Hébert
- School of Social Work, Faculty of Social Sciences, Laval University, Charles de Koninck Hall, 1030, avenue des Sciences-Humaines, Quebec, G1V 0A6, Canada
| | - J V Flynn
- Department of Social Work, University of Gothenburg, Sprängkullsgatan 23, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - C Lalonde
- PROUD Community Advisory Committee, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - D Pineau
- PROUD Community Advisory Committee, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - J Bigelow
- PROUD Community Advisory Committee, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - T Rose
- PROUD Community Advisory Committee, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - R Chase
- Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, 750 Bannatyne Ave, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3E 0W2, Canada
| | - R Boyd
- Sandy Hill Community Health Centre, 221 Nelson Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 1C7, Canada
| | - M Tyndall
- BC Centre for Disease Control, 655 W 12th Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 4R4, Canada
| | - C Kendall
- Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 43 Bruyère Street, (375) Floor 3JB, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 5C8, Canada
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Abstract
Aim The aim of the article is to critically reflect on the harm reduction approach used in Danish substance abuse treatment. Data The article is based on qualitative interviews with staff at treatment institutions in Copenhagen. Themes and Conclusions Three themes are addressed. First, our data indicate that low-threshold methadone treatment is difficult to combine with a long-term goal of abstinence. In fact, many harm reduction proponents among staff are directly opposed to treatment models in which abstinence is a goal. Second, we illustrate how the development of harm reduction measures is embedded in a socio-political trend focusing on a combined “autonomization/responsibilization” of social clients. This focus on clients as autonomous and responsible subjects clashes with another central conception among staff: the idea that heroin addicts are slaves to their substance use and hence cannot be treated as fully rational human beings. Third, the article analyses the relationship between harm reduction and social integration. Although social integration of substance abusers is part of the rationale behind harm reduction measures, this goal is difficult to reach with a group of clients as marginalized as the ones in focus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ditte Andersen
- The Department of Sociology University of Copenhagen Øster Farimagsgade 5 1014 Copenhagen K, Denmark
| | - Margaretha Järvinen
- The Department of Sociology & The Danish National Institute of Social Research (SFI) Herluf Trolles Gade 11 1052 Copenhagen K, Denmark
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Faulkner-Gurstein R. The social logic of naloxone: Peer administration, harm reduction, and the transformation of social policy. Soc Sci Med 2017; 180:20-27. [PMID: 28315595 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2016] [Revised: 02/22/2017] [Accepted: 03/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
This paper examines overdose prevention programs based on peer administration of the opioid antagonist naloxone. The data for this study consist of 40 interviews and participant observation of 10 overdose prevention training sessions at harm reduction agencies in the Bronx, New York, conducted between 2010 and 2012. This paper contends that the social logic of peer administration is as central to the success of overdose prevention as is naloxone's pharmacological potency. Whereas prohibitionist drug policies seek to isolate drug users from the spaces and cultures of drug use, harm reduction strategies like peer-administered naloxone treat the social contexts of drug use as crucial resources for intervention. Such programs utilize the expertise, experience, and social connections gained by users in their careers as users. In revaluing the experience of drug users, naloxone facilitates a number of harm reduction goals. But it also raises complex questions about responsibility and risk. This paper concludes with a discussion of how naloxone's social logic illustrates the contradictions within broader neoliberal trends in social policy.
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